Meow!
Cat Got Your Tongue?

January 12 - February 4, 2018

Meow 2018, we are not catnapping! Pera Film is ready for the New Year and is full of fur-balls! A year ago Pera Film enjoyed presenting heart-warming stories about dogs with Tales of Tails: Dogs on Screen. And this time our new program for the New Year is a warm feline salute to one of the most intriguing and mystical creatures we know – cats! We are delighted that it is not just the Internet that’s obsessed with cats. We are too! Though it has been roughly over thousands of years since cats were first domesticated since Ancient Egypt, the fascination grows. A variety of urban legends have travelled throughout centuries from all around the world: In a few different areas of Europe, it was thought to be ill-advised for a pregnant woman to pick up a cat or let it sleep in her lap. In Portugal, it was once said the cat will afflict the baby with a wart or mole, usually a hairy one, and in England, it was thought the baby will either be born with a cat-shaped birthmark or with the face of a cat. Medieval people thought that cats were the Devil’s personal soul courier, ferrying spirits to Hell. The Japanese believe that cats are lucky; the maneki-neko (“beckoning cat”) an iconic Japanese talisman is believed to bring good fortune to its owner, usually in the form of cash. A Buddhist belief says a cat with a dark coat brings promises of gold, while a light-colored cat brings silver. And the stories go on! Pera Film’s Cat Got Your Tongue? program shines light on cinema’s recent cat stories – from France to Turkey and from Japan to the USA, the selection cherishes these magical and perplexing creatures. Fur the love of cinema!

This program’s screenings are free of admissions. Drop in, no reservations.

January 12

20:00 The Future

January 13

14:00 A Cat in Paris

16:00 Kedi

January 14

14:00 Samurai Cat

16:00 Neko Ninja

January 17

19:00 The Strange Little Cat

January 19

19:00 Rent-A-Cat

21:00 Tomcat

January 20

16:00 A Cat in Paris

18:00 The Strange Little Cat

January 21

15:00 Tomcat

January 24

19:00 Rent-A-Cat

January 31

19:00 She’s Allergic to Cats

February 2

19:00 The Future

February 3

14:00 She’s Allergic to Cats

16:00 Samurai Cat

February 4

14:00 Neko Ninja

16:00 Kedi

A Cat in Paris

A Cat in Paris

The Future

The Future

Rent-A-Cat

Rent-A-Cat

The Strange Little Cat

The Strange Little Cat

Kedi

Kedi

She’s Allergic to Cats

She’s Allergic to Cats

Tomcat

Tomcat

Samurai Cat

Samurai Cat

Neko Ninja

Neko Ninja

Program Trailer

Meow!
Cat Got Your Tongue?

Our new program for the New Year is a warm feline salute to one of the most intriguing and mystical creatures we know – cats!

The Notions of Race Fred Wilson

The Notions of Race Fred Wilson

Pera Museum, in collaboration with Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), is one of the main venues for this year’s 15th Istanbul Biennial from 16 September to 12 November 2017.

Istanbul-Paris-Istanbul: Mario Prassinos

Istanbul-Paris-Istanbul: Mario Prassinos

Mario Prassinos liked Istanbul more than the current Istanbulites of today. It is obvious that you can understand this from the article written by her daughter Catherine Prassinos in the Pera Museum's book on the artist.

Serpent Head

Serpent Head

The Greek god Apollo and his son Asklepios presided over the realm of medicine and healing. Apollo was also the god of light and sun, whose solar symbolism and association with medicine would become linked to Christ the Physician, and the resurrected.