Fellow villagers of @russellcrowe-ville,
My 1st report: Media coverage on #theWaterDiviner premiere.
The 2nd will be a spoiler-free report on the movie.
The 3rd & final one will be my personal story on attending the event & meeting RC!

The Istanbul premiere for Russell Crowe’s directorial debut, the Water Diviner (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3007512/) has been the week’s top news in Turkish media.
I’ve tried to check out as many newspapers, websites, tv programs as I can, and here’s a glance at the impact of the premiere in Turkey.

(the Water Diviner (Turkish title: Son Umut, i.e. the Last Hope) opens on December 26th 2014 in Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.
Full list release dates: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3007512/releaseinfo

Following the world premiere in Sydney (02/12/2014) and the Melbourne (03/12/2014) premiere, the Istanbul premiere of the Water Diviner took place at Zorlu Center Performing Arts Center on December 5th, 2014.
Prior to the event Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Cem Yilmaz and Yilmaz Erdogan attended the press conference followed by tv appearances including prime-time news.

(Note: The four actors also appeared on a tv show called “3 Adam” on 04/12/2014, the air date of the program remains TBA)

The press conference held 148 journalists and the cast members answered questions ranging from Crowe’s perspective on war to Cem Yilmaz jokingly being jealous of Yilmaz Erdogan’s AACTA nomination as Best Supporting Actor.
(The Water Diviner has been nominated in 8 categories including Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Leading Actor; the AACTA prize ceremony will be held on January 29th, 2015)
During the press conference, Kurylenko explained that she tried to speak Turkish with the right accent and watched documentaries/gathered information on Turkey & women’s life style in early 1900s, and Yilmaz Erdogan stated that he asked a director for a role for the first time in his career.

The cast members arrived at the red carpet one hour later than initially announced, which did not seem to bother the excited fans waiting to see the stars on the red carpet.
(video: red carpet/arrival; recommended to skip from 01:30 to 04:20. From 04:50 on the video shows how the cast presented the film inside the movie theater: http://www.haberler.com/son-umut-filminin-galasi-istanbul-da-yapildi-6751815-haberi/)
The Water Diviner met the audience in a theatre with a capacity of 2,200, and left the viewers in awe, tears and goosebumps –nothing less.
Majority of the viewers emphasized how successfully the movie reflected both perspectives on Gallipoli, and expressed that the Water Diviner did exceed their expectations in terms of the story, cast performance, screenplay, costumes/music and cinematography.

One of the most special moments during the screening was the scene where the character portrayed by Cem Yilmaz raises a toast to Mustafa Kemal (also featured in the Turkish trailer of the Water Diviner); the audience responded to the scene by loud and clear applause during the film.
Another interesting moment was the scene were the same character (Jemal) sings an old Turkish folk song –some viewers clapped and sang along!

The ending of the movie was just as spectacular as the overall evening, the Water Diviner got standing ovation in Istanbul (as a personal note, I’d like to add it deserved no less! My spoiler-free report on the movie will follow this 1st report of 3).

After the screening, the after party took place in Backyard-Bebekoy.

PS: Some newspapers stated that a confidentiality contract was requested from journalists, adding that mobile phones were collected. I was there from 4 pm until the end of the night, did not see or hear anyone’s mobile being taken away, including my own. So, the said precaution may have applied to press only. The guests were politely reminded to not take any pictures or record videos during the screening.

Links to articles/videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElMABjPuu-I
(video: Crowe and Kurylenko arrive at Raffles Hotel Istanbul, 04/12/2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VITCStKwXKQ
(The cast members’ arrival at Zorlu Center)
(Note: I’m the super lucky person whom RC walks towards (seeing my sign) as he arrives. I was standing there despite having a pass to the event (heart-felt and massive thanks to Mr. Crowe himself), thinking that I may not have the time/chance to see THE man once inside. Turns out I was wrong, got to have a few words with RC as he arrived, as well as inside. My 3rd and final (and personal) report on the magical night will follow the spoiler-free report on the movie)

http://www.haberler.com/son-umut-filminin-galasi-istanbul-da-yapildi-6751815-haberi/
(video: red carpet/arrival)
http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25554421
(article: press conference; video: NTV news with simultaneous translation; it’s not impossible to hear Crowe's answers, though)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uRtKx706K4
(The cast members on prime-time news just before the start of the premiere)
http://www.haberler.com/son-umut-26-aralik-ta-vizyona-girecek-6749874-haberi/
(article: press conference, almost identical to the NTV article)

Examples of news/pics on the Water Diviner Istanbul premiere in weekend newspapers:
http://s1115.photobucket.com/user/IpekMine83/library/Newspapers

Mine Gursel (a.k.a. @TheGreatmagic on Twitter)

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