2016 Istanbul Film Festival Celebrates 35th Edition (7 April– 17 April 2016) (Part 1)

h. nazan ışık—

2 April 2016—

The 35th Istanbul Film Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), and sponsored for the 12th time by AKBANK will take place 7-17 April 2016.

IKSV

This year The 35th Istanbul Film Festival has a new director, Kerem Ayan.

Last year there were a lot of activities: The 34th Istanbul Film Festival was, in a way, in turmoil. Let’s remember what happened. The festival started with an opening ceremony, shows, everything went as programmed until an announcement of cancellation of Bakur / North directed by Çayan Demirel and Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, from the festival on 12 April. It said “The Cinema General Directorate of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has sent an official letter to the IKSV on 11 April, reminding that films produced in Turkey need to have obtained a formal registration certificate in order to be screened at festivals.””

As a result an important programme change was announced: “Following the cancellation of the screening on 12 April, 20 + film directors pulled their films from the festival. Instead, at the scheduled screening date and time, the film crew would be present at the movie theatre to discuss the current situation with their audience.”

On 13 April, The 34th Istanbul Film Festival organised a press conference, attended by Azize Tan, the director of the festival, as well as the jury members of the festival competitions, and filmmakers whose films are included in the festival programme.

In the press conference, the festival announced that the film screenings would continue, but the National and International Golden Tulip Competitions, National Documentary Competition and the Closing Ceremony were cancelled.

Wait, wait, that’s not all. There is more; as of October 2015, Azize Tan, Director of the Istanbul Film Festival for the past 9 years, handled the post over to the Istanbul Film Festival’s Assistant Director Kerem Ayan. And Bulgu Öztürk, the Istanbul Film Festival team as Coordinator since 2005, was appointed as Assistant Director of the festival.

I don’t remember that the Istanbul Film Festival explained the reason for going through this restructuring after 9 years.

The Istanbul Film Festival this year hosts 187 feature films, as well as 10 short and 24 experimental films, in 25 different categories and in addition to the screening of a total of 221 films by 223 directors from 62 countries, there will be talks with guest filmmakers, panel discussions, concerts, and other special events.

INTERNATIONAL GOLDEN TULIP COMPETITION

In the International Competition section of the Istanbul Film Festival, 15 films from 14 countries, under the “New Perspectives in Cinema” theme will vie for the Golden Tulip.

The jury of the International Golden Tulip Competition, presided by Pablo Trapero, comprises actress Melisa Sözen, actor Lior Ashkenazy, video artist Ali Kazma, and producer Ewa Puszczyńska.

The International Competition Golden Tulip Award, presented in memory of Şakir Eczacıbaşı, will be supported with a 25,000 Euro monetary award given by the Eczacıbaşı Group. The director of the Best Film will be awarded with 10,000 Euro, the distribution company of the film in Turkey will be awarded 10,000 Euro, and the director of the film to receive the Special Jury Prize will be awarded 5,000 Euro.

International Golden Tulip Competition films:

  • Sutak / Heavenly nomadic / Mirlan Abdykalykov / Kyrgyzstan
  • Eva Doesn’t Sleep / Pablo Agüero / Argentina
  • Peace to Us in Our Dreams / Sharunas Bartas / Lithuania
  • The Childhood of a Leader / Brady Corbet / England
  • Kor / Ember / Zeki Demirkubuz / Turkey
  • Les démons / The Demons / Philippe Lesage / Canada
  • The End / Guillaume Nicloux / France
  • Un monstruo de mil cabezas / A Monster With Thousand Heads / Rodrigo Pla / Mexico
  • Jajda / Thirst / Svetla Tsotsorkova / Bulgaria
  • Belgica / Felix Van Groeningen / Belgium
  • Zjednoczone Stany Milosci / United States of Love / Tomasz Wasilewski / Poland
  • Interruption / Yorgos Zois / Greece
  • Ein atem / One Breath / Christian Zübert / Germany
  • Rodinny film / Family Film / Olmo Omerzu / Czech Republic
  • Auf Einmal / All of A Sudden / Aslı Özge / Germany

HUMAN RIGHTS IN CINEMA: THE FILM AWARD OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE (FACE)

The Film Award of the Council of Europe (FACE) is being presented only at the Istanbul Film Festival for 10

years. The FACE Award supported by the Council of Europe and its coproduction fund Eurimages comprises 10,000 Euros monetary prize and a statuette.

The FACE Award Jury comprises author, actor and screenwriter Ercan Kesal, director Jakob Brossmann, European Film Fund Eurimages Deputy Executive Director Isabel Castro, and Leyla Kayacık who is the Senior Adviser at the Private Office of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Deputy Secretary General on matters related to Human Rights and Supremacy of Law.

Human Rights in Cinema Competition films:

  • White People / Lisa Aschan / Sweden
  • Wonderland / Michael Krummenacher, Jan Gassmann, Lisa Blatter, Gregor Frei, Benny Jaber, Carmen Jaquier, Jonas Meier, Tobias Nölle, Lionel Rupp, Mike Scheiwiller / Switzerland
  • Mediterranea / Jonas Carpignano / Italy
  • The Magic Mountain / Anca Damian / Romania
  • Embrace of the Serpent / Ciro Guerra / Columbia
  • Behemoth / Zhao Liang / China
  • Interrogation / Vetri Maaran / India
  • The Red Land / Diego Martínez Vignatti / Belgium
  • 3000 Nights / Mai Masri / Palestine
  • Coastliners / Erdem Tepegöz, Barış Pirhasan, Alphan Eşeli, Melisa Önel, Ramin Matin

NATIONAL GOLDEN TULIP COMPETITION

10 films that were completed in the 2015-16 season will be vying for the Golden Tulip in the National Competition of the festival, while raising the occasion to three Turkey and four world premieres. The National Competition Jury will be headed by actress Müjde Ar, with actor Tansu Biçer, actress Niki Karimi, director Ben Hopkins, journalist and writer Murat Uyurkulak, and distributor Torsten Frehse as its members.

Best Film in the National Competition selected by the jury will be awarded with the Golden Tulip and 150,000 TL, and the Best Director will be awarded with Golden Tulip and 50,000 TL. Best Actress and Best Actor will be awarded with 10,000 TL each. The Istanbul Film Festival National Golden Tulip Competition Jury will also give the Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Music awards. Producer of the film awarded with the Special Jury Award in memory of Onat Kutlar will be given 60,000 TL by Anadolu Efes.

National Golden Tulip Competition films:

  • Tarla / The Field / Cemil Ağacıkoğlu
  • Benim Kendi Hayatım / My Own Life / Adnan Akdağ
  • Rüzgarın Hatıraları / Memories of the Wind / Özcan Alper
  • Siyah Karga / Black Crow / Tayfur Aydın
  • Kalandar Soğuğu / Cold of Kalandar / Mustafa Kara
  • Rauf / Barış Kaya, Soner Caner
  • Mavi Bisiklet / Blue Bicycle / Ümit Köreken
  • Toz Bezi / Dust Cloth / Ahu Öztürk
  • Ana Yurdu / Motherland / Senem Tüzen
  • Rüzgarda Salınan Nilüfer / Swaying Waterlily / Seren Yüce
  • Kasap Havası / Wedding Dance / Çiğdem Sezgin

NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

The Istanbul Film Festival, will be awarding a Best Documentary Award, in order to support documentary film-makers and documentary film production in Turkey, and 10,000 TL with the support of 5. Kat Restaurant.

The National Documentary Competition jury consists of documentarians Emel Çelebi, Güliz Sağlam, and Carlos Hagerman. 7 world premieres and 3 Turkey premieres will be held within the Istanbul Film Festival National Documentary Competition.

National Documentary Competition films:

  • Hazır Ol! / Attention! / Onur Bakır & Panagiotis Charamis
  • Rafet’in Çocukları / The Children of Rafet / Mümin Barış & Reşit Ballıkaya
  • Başgan / Mr. President / Orhan Eskiköy
  • Genç Pehlivanlar / Young Wrestlers / Mete Gümürhan
  • Soluk / Sigh / Metin Kaya
  • Koloni / Colony / Gürcan Keltek
  • Beyaz Çınar / Çinara Sipi / White Sycamore / Kazım Öz
  • Ötekiler / The Others / Ayşe Polat
  • Sürgün Türküleri Yılmaz Güney / Ballad of Exiles Yılmaz Güney / İlker Savaşkurt
  • Kayıp Zamanlar / Missing Times / Faysal Soysal
  • Yok Devenin Pabucu: Bir Aşk Hikayesi / Holy Camel! : A True Love Story / Sibel Mary Şamlı
  • Kara Atlas / Dark Atlas / Umut Vedat

NATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION

On its 35th anniversary, the Istanbul Film Festival launches the National Short Film Competition with the intent of incentivizing short film making, supporting the development in this field,.

The National Short Film Competition jury consists of director Can Evrenol, actress Hazal Kaya, and DokuFest director Nita Deda. The jury will select the Best Short Film which will be awarded 5,000 TL. FIPRESCI will also select a film to award the FIPRESCI Prize.

National Short Film Competition films:

  • Merkür / Mercury / Melis Balcı, Ege Okal
  • Asfalt / Asphalt / Süleyman Demirel
  • Salı / Ziya Demirel / Türkiye-Fransa
  • Balık Havuzu / Fish Pond / Ezgi Kaplan
  • Karadeniz / Black Sea / Ulaş Karaoğlu
  • Tik Tak / Tick Tock / Zeynep Koçak
  • Timur Hakkında / About Timur / Özgü Özbudak
  • Cemil Şov / The Cemil Show / Barış Sarhan
  • Orman / The Jungle / Onur Saylak, Doğu Akal
  • Jamais Vu / Levent Türkan

SEYFİ TEOMAN BEST DEBUT FILM AWARD

The Istanbul Film Festival presents the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Award in memoriam director and producer Seyfi Teoman, who passed away in 2012. Director of the film awarded with the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Award will be presented 30,000 TL by CMYLMZ Fikirsanat. All the debut feature fiction films from Turkey in the International Golden Tulip Competition, Human Rights in Cinema and the Turkish Cinema (National Golden Tulip Competition, “Out of Competition” and “New Turkish Cinema”) sections are eligible for the prize.

Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Award jury consists of scriptwriter and director Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun, distributor Ioanna Stais, and actor Ahmet Rıfat Şungar.

Films to compete for the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Award:

  • Benim Kendi Hayatım / My Own Life / Adnan Akdağ
  • Rauf / Barış Kaya, Soner Caner
  • Mavi Bisiklet / Blue Bicycle / Ümit Köreken
  • Toz Bezi / Dust Cloth / Ahu Öztürk
  • Ana Yurdu / Motherland / Senem Tüzen
  • Kasap Havası / Wedding Dance / Çiğdem Sezgin
  • Kümes / The Coop / Ufuk Bayraktar
  • Son Kuşlar / The Last Birds / Bedir Afşin
  • Dolanma / Entanglement / Tunç Davut
  • Çırak / The Apprentice / Emre Konuk
  • Kötü Kedi Şerafettin / Bad Cat / Mehmet Kurtuluş, Ayşe Ünal
  • Yemekteydim ve Karar Verdim / We Were Dining and I Decided / Görkem Yeltan
  • Anadolu Masalları / Anatolian Tales / Emin Fırat Övür

AUDENTIA AWARD (for Women Directors)

With a view to drawing attention to gender inequality, the Council of Europe’s co-production fund, Eurimages, has introduced an annual award of 30,000 euros to be conferred on a woman director for her to use on her next project.

The Audentia Award will be given for the first time in the world at the 35th Istanbul Film Festival, where the films of 15 women directors in the festival programme will be competing for the award. Named after the Latin word for courage and bravery, the “Audentia” award intends to give greater visibility to women directors in order to encourage other women to follow in their footsteps.

The first Audentia jury consists of director Yeşim Ustaoğlu, director Angelos Frantzis and Sanja Ravlic.,

Films to compete for the Audentia Award:

  • White People / Lisa Aschan
  • As I Open My Eyes / Leyla Bouzid
  • The Magic Mountain / Anca Damian
  • Evolution / Lucile Hadzihalilovic
  • Mountain / Yaelle Kayam
  • Wild / Nicolette Krebitz
  • 3000 Nights / Mai Masri
  • Song of Songs / Eva Neymann
  • Ansızın / All of A Sudden / Aslı Özge
  • Toz Bezi / Dust Cloth / Ahu Öztürk
  • Kasap Havası / Wedding Dance / Çiğdem Sezgin
  • Chevalier / Athina Rachel Tsangari
  • Thirst / Svetla Tsotsorkova
  • Ana Yurdu / Motherland / Senem Tüzen
  • Yemekteydim ve Karar Verdim / We Were Dining and I Decided / Görkem Yeltan

FIPRESCI AWARD

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) will give the FIPRESCI Award to one film from the International Competition, one film from the National Competition, and one film from the National Short Film Competition.

The FIPRESCI jury will be headed by Chris Fujiwara from USA, and will have Harri Römpötti from Finland, Patrizia Pistagnesi from Italy, Viera Langerova from Slovakia, Senem Erdine and Ali Deniz Şensöz from Turkey.

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