Sinematek/Sinema Evi has been operating since 2021 in its newly reconstructed building, established by Kadıköy Municipality with the mission of preserving film heritage and promoting film culture. The institution houses a 158-seat screening hall, a library, an exhibition space, an event room, and a printed archive. It organizes curated screening programs of films with artistic and historical significance, and hosts panels, presentations, talks, workshops, exhibitions, and similar events that encourage a more conscious and profound engagement between audiences and the art of cinema.
Today, cinematheques rank among the leading cultural institutions in countries committed to preserving film heritage. As of 2023, Sinematek/Sinema Evi has become an associate member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), joining this global network.
Designed as a modern cinematheque, Sinematek/Sinema Evi presents three curated programs each season. Since 2021, it has hosted retrospectives dedicated to directors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Luis Buñuel, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman, Sergei Parajanov, Andrei Tarkovsky, Harry Kümel, and Liliana Cavani, as well as actors including Marcello Mastroianni and Romy Schneider. It has also organized programs focusing on movements in cinema such as Poetic Realism, New German Cinema, and New Hollywood.
In its programs and events, Sinematek/Sinema Evi collaborates usually with institutions including Institut Français de Turquie, Italian Cultural Institute in Istanbul, Goethe-Institut, Eye Filmmuseum and Il Cinema Ritrovato.