Plots(1)
Istanbul is the world's largest city straddling two continents, Asia and Europe. Filmmakers Hind Benchekroun and Sami Mermer use Istanbul's numerous call centres to explore the city's contemporary role as a gateway for migrants from West Africa, South Asia and Arab Spring countries seeking safe passage to the West. In visually striking tableaus, we become privileged eavesdroppers on one-way phone conversations of longing, hope and frustration. Moving out of the callshops and into the streets, we follow three undocumented Senegalese street vendors as they experience the city with part wonder, part dismay. In their eyes, Istanbul is a city of magic and beauty as much as a city of trouble and unrest. Callshop Istanbul is a subtle testament to the complicated role the transcontinental city plays in the 21st century's largest migration crisis. (Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival)
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