A Name and A Place

Format: Documentary, Feature
Role: Assistant Director & Cameraperson
Synopsis: Renée Levi, one of Switzerland's leading contemporary artists, returned to her birthplace, Istanbul, in September 2022, for two exhibitions and a public art installation. Born in 1960 and moving to Switzerland at age six, Levi associates Istanbul with her childhood and Sephardic heritage. Over the past decade, she has gained acclaim for institutional exhibitions in Europe and public art projects in Switzerland. A rare female figure in abstract expressionism, she is known for naming her works after women.

A Name and A Place captures Levi's two weeks in Istanbul, blending exhibition preparations, city explorations, family history, and collaborations with partner Marcel Schmid and musician Janiv Oron. The film weaves themes of femininity, migration, Istanbul, Sephardic heritage, international art, and artistic labor.