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PERFORMED & ANIMATED
STORIES

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“You’re a theatre director?
Then, you can do anything.”

That’s what my interviewer said right before I landed my first job in NYC. He was right. Performance is an interdisciplinary field of interwoven elements that need to be co-created and managed simultaneously. The paths weaving in and out of theatre, performance, filmmaking and animation are paved with similar stones. Moving images in time or moving live images in space share DNA. Composing two-dimensional visual  images and staging in space are akin. When animation is my sandbox, creating characters for the theater merges with film grammar and visual storytelling. I write screenplays, doctor scripts, create video-performances, direct short films, make stop-motion and hand-drawn animations, analyze, write, and lecture on all of these. At times I am creator, at times collaborator and at times consultant.  If you are process-oriented, no field is that far off.

ANIMATIONS

TETRIST
02:48

TETRIST

Produced by Canlandıranlar Yetenek Kampı as part of Istanbul Capital of Culture 2010. “Tetrist” is a re-creation of the current day Istanbul skyline as a doomed game of Tetris set to a soundtrack of the city’s musical landscape from the last century. It opens with a reworked image of a 16th century miniature of the Pera neighborhood, based around the landmark of the Galata Tower. As an unseen hand plays Tetris with neighborhood buildings erected throughout the 20th century, the landscape shifts uncomfortably and signals an unfortunate near-future. AWARDS •Best international animation award, 5th İstanbul International Architecture and City Films Festival, October 2011 •Best national animation award, 5th İstanbul International Architecture and City Films Festival, October 2011 •İstanbul 2010 Canlandıranlar Yetenek Kampı Production support award FESTIVALS & SCREENINGS •5th İstanbul International Architecture and City Films Festival, October 2011 •İstanbul Animation Festival Selects Outdoors Animation Night, Santral İstanbul, 20 July 2011 •Cannes Film Festival Turkish Film Stand, 2011 •İstanbul Animations, Aksanat, 27 May 2011 •İstanbul Animations, ITU, 12 May 2011 •İstanbul Animations, Beşiktaş Bel. Levent Cultural Center, 5 May 2011 •Kütahya Dumlupınar University 5th Animation Festival, 28 April 2011 •İstanbul Animations, Mimar Sinan University, 22 March 2011 •International Izmir Animation Festival, 13 March 2011 •!F İstanbul, 20 February 2011
FALLING ADREAM
03:15

FALLING ADREAM

“Falling Adream” is a meditation on sleep and death, in the form of an experimental stop-motion animation. Each night, sleep washes over everyone like the waves of the sea no matter who they may be. As we all sink lower into the depths of sleep, at times we encounter death and at times, other desires and fears. In order to complete even a single night’s sleep cycle and wake up, we all need to make peace with death.

VIDEO PERFORMANCES

BENEATH THE SURFACE
01:05

BENEATH THE SURFACE

We each need contact with what lies beneath our surface even when it feels like there's no solid ground for us. This video was created for FemLink, the International Video-Collages and included in the FemLink's Video-Collage "Secret."
RIPPLES WITHIN: SELF-PORTRAIT
01:00

RIPPLES WITHIN: SELF-PORTRAIT

EFFORT FOR THE INEVITABLE
01:08

EFFORT FOR THE INEVITABLE

The prospect of danger comes with a feeling of responsibility to warn others and keep everyone safe. And yet there are times when the highest effort fails to convey the danger, let alone keep it at bay. This video performance, where a stuttering woman tries to warn others of impending danger with all that’s in her power, is an exploration of danger, the human conscience and effort, responsibility and guilt. CREDITS : Artist and Director: Mesrure Melis Bilgin Performer: Hande Varsat Camera and Sound: Semi Koen This video was created for FemLink, the International Video-Collages and included in the FemLink's Video-Collage "Danger".
IMPLOSION
01:37

IMPLOSION

Aggression is sometimes an unintentional residue of the past unfit to be spitted out. "implosion" is a short video art piece that was created for femlink's video collage on "aggression." (2013) CREDITS : conception and direction: Mesrure Melis Bilgin lights: Kaan Tosunoğlu camera: Özgül Arslan Tosunoğlu performers: Mesrure Melis Bilgin, Lila Tosunoğlu

SHORT FILMS

STAGED

A current day Istanbul take on Ingres's famous painting, "Odalisque" explores the dynamics of seeing and being seen. A young schoolboy, left at his grandmother's boring apartment, enters a new world he discovers through the open curtains of the painting studio across.

BİR ZAMANLAR

  • AWARDS & GRANTS
    TETRIST 1st Place, Best Animation – National Category, V. İstanbul International Architecture and City Films Festival, 2011. ​1st Place, Best Animation – International Category, V. İstanbul International Architecture and City Films Festival, 2011. 2nd Place, Animation Category,​ 2nd International Eskişehir Kral Midas Film Festival, 2012. Featured, Animation Selection, MUBI, October 2022-2023 Featured, Short of the Month,​ Altyazı, April 2013. Featured, Hisar Short Film Selection 2012. ODALISQUE Short Film Production Grant: Ministry of Culture and Tourism General Directorate of Cinema, 2008. FALLING ADREAM Animation Production Grant: Ministry of Culture and Tourism General Directorate of Cinema, 2017.
  • FILM JURY POSITION
    12th Canlandiranlar Talent Camp, Animation and Game Design, İstanbul, 2022. International Women Filmmakers Festival, Animation, İzmir, 2022.​ AFSAD 4th International Short Film Competition, Animation, Ankara, 2021. Hisar Short Film Festival, Bosphorus University Mithat Alam Film Merkezi, İstanbul, 2016.​ 3rd Golden Plane Tree Film Festival, Animation, Kayseri, 2015. 48 Hours Film Project, İstanbul jury, 2012-2015. ClipAward Kunzfilmfestival, Mannheim, Germany, 2014.
  • FEATURE FILM SCREENPLAYS & SUBTITLES TRANSLATOR-EDITOR
    Beautiful Boredom Çağıl Bocutoğlu (Director), In Progress. Sardunya (Geranium) Çağıl Bocutoğlu (Director), 2017. Özür Dilerim (Forgive Me) Cemil Ağacıkoğlu (Director), 2013. Jin Reha Erdem (Director), 2013.
  • PRODUCTION COLLABORATIONS
    Bread and Puppet Theatre Workshops, Santralistanbul Production/House Manager 17th Istanbul Biennial Bilgi University’s Contemporary Performing Arts Festival, www.festival408.com Project Manager & Advisor, Festival408 11th Festival408 “tema/s/sız”, 2022. 10th Festival408 “Net Miyiz?”, 2021. 9th Festival408 “Nerede Kaldın? Karantinada”, 2020. 8th Festival408 “Çok Normal”, 2019. 7th Festival408 “Not Found”, 2018. Netflix Series “Atiye”, Performance Consultant on “Kam Rituals” - 2019. "Bacchae", Bilgi University Production, Touring Supervisor 8th International Bilkent Theatre Days in Ankara, 2019.
  • STAGE WORK / INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL, REGIONAL
    Bir Zamanlar Kadın, Performer-Painter İstanbulimpro, Istanbul, Turkey, 2019-ongoing. Operabil POW, Performer, Conceived and Directed by Marko Kosnik, Apartment Project, Istanbul, Turkey, 2007. Orfeus ve Erydike, Director, Children’s Shadow Theatre with 7-12 years-old Ekol Drama cast, Muammer Karaca Tiyatrosu, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009. Midas’ın Kulakları, Director, Children’s Shadow Theatre with 7-9 years-old Ekol Drama cast, Muammer Karaca Tiyatrosu, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009. Küçük Kara Balık, Co-Director, Children’s Shadow Theatre with 5-6 years-old Ekol Drama cast, Muammer Karaca Tiyatrosu, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009. Disheartened, Playwright, Reorient Festival, Berkeley, USA, 2004. Metamorphosis, Dramaturge, Dir. Kaan Nazlı, Mayfest, New York, NY, USA, 2004. Death of Klinghoffer, Assistant Director, Dir. Bob McGrath, Ridge Theater BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), New York, NY, USA, 2003. Water Stories from the Mojave Desert, Assistant Director, Dir. Jean Randich, New York Theater Workshop, USA, 2003. If My Mother Had a Boat, Dramaturge, Playwright: Catherine Filloux, HB Playwrights, New York, NY, USA, 2002. Beauty Inside, Dramaturge, Dir. Jean Randich, New Dramatists, New York, NY, USA, 2002. Beauty Inside, Dramaturge, Playwright: Catherine Filloux, HB Playwrights Theatre’s Fifth Annual Short Play Series, New York, NY, USA, 2001. Gilgamesh, Director, Bennington College, Bennington, VT, USA, 2001. Ceza Kolonisinde, Assistant Director, Dir. Mahir Günşıray, Tiyatro Oyunevi, İstanbul, Turkey, 2000. Tartuffe, Assistant Director, Dir. Jean Randich, Bennington College, Bennington, VT, USA, 2000. Troy Women, Dramaturge, Dir. Jean Randich, Bennington College, Bennington, VT, USA, 1998. Iliad, One Woman Performance, Bennington College, VT, USA, 1998

LET'S
TELL
STORIES TOGETHER

Melis Bilgin Mayis 2020.jpg
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