What is this website?

‘‘I would like to believe the world will be saved by the cinema.’’

-Theodoros Angelopoulos

This was my motto when starting Magnum-Opus. I believe art, and cinema most of all, holds a quiet mission: to remind us of our humanity, and maybe, in doing so, to save the world. Hi, my name is Aras Ergünay, I’m from southern Turkey. Magnum-Opus is a place where I share my love for cinema with people across the world; not the kind of cinema that everyone already knows, but the films and filmmakers outside the borders of Hollywood. Art isn’t only made in America, yet so many people spend their days surrounded by only American media. With this website, I hope to introduce audiences to voices from every corner of the world — from Japan to Iran, from Italy to Turkey, so that the world can become a more thoughtful, culturally aware place.

Cinema connects us. It teaches us empathy, it helps us understand different cultures, and it reminds us that beauty can be found anywhere. My goal with Magnum Opus is simple: to make people see beyond what’s familiar and to introduce people to the artists who have shaped humanity’s collective soul and my own soul through the art of filmmaking. As a result I will add a new director and two of his films to the website every month. November 2025 is our first month, and as the director of our first month, I choose Akira Kurosawa.

If you want to read my reviews for other films, you can check my letterboxd accounts: English and Turkish

Founder: I. Aras Ergünay

Supervisor: Utku B. Karaseki & I. Aras Ergunay