Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits

The documentary treats the growth of Istanbul not as a success story but as a question of thresholds. According to the film the ecological, the economic and the population thresholds have long since been crossed, and the way the city grows is breaking its social fabric as well. The account goes from demolished squatter neighbourhoods to the tops of the skyscrapers, from the tunnel under the strait to the route of the third bridge; it speaks with property investors and with people inside the urban opposition alike. The struggle of a displaced family for housing forms the spine of the account. This is the director’s first feature length documentary. The documentary uses figures as well in describing the city, but what it is really after is the people behind the figures. Imre Azem’s ninety three minute Turkish documentary was completed in 2011.