Countdown begins for 31st Istanbul Film Festival

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The 31st Istanbul Film Festival’s program was announced yesterday. The festival, which is to take place between March 31 and April 15 , is promising two whole weeks full of a film program with more than 200 movies under more than 20 sections, famous guests, seminars and workshops with expert filmmakers, film classes, master classes, and concerts for cinephiles.

The festival’s opening film is Terence Davies’ “The Deep Blue Sea,” which stars Rachel Weisz. Davies will be presented a Cinema Honorary Award and will also give a master class within the festival. The class titled “The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity” will be held March 31 at 4 p.m. at Salon İKSV.

This year’s Cinema Honorary Awards are also going to four important local names, Director Ali Özgentürk, actress Ayşen Gruda, actor Halit Akçatepe, and Sevin Okyay, the first female film critic of Turkey. The awards will be presented to owners at the opening ceremony of the festival on March 30 at Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Center.

In addition to core sections of the festival, five Turkish movies will be shown under the “Out of Competition” section. “Last Stop Salvation” by Yusuf Pirhasan, “To Better Days” by Hasan Tolga Pulat, “In Flames” by Murat Saraçoğlu, “The Extremely Tragic Story of Celal Tan and His Family” by Onur Ünlü and “Velvet” by Erdoğan Kar will meet with the audience in this section.

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) will distribute its own awards in the Istanbul Film Festival as in the previous years. One movie from the International Competition and one movie from the National Competition will receive the FIPRESCI Award. The FIPRESCI jury will have Pamela Bienzóbas from Chile as head of jury, Dieter Wieczorek from France, Nicole Santé from the Netherlands, Noura Borsali from Tunisia and Erman Ata Uncu and Kerem Akça from Turkey.

Daily Radikal to give awards

As in previous years, one of the media sponsors of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, daily Radikal, will present one film from both National and International Competitions with the Radikal People’s Choice Award. Two films receiving the award will be determined by the audience who will submit their votes to the Radikal voting boxes at the festival theaters. A drawing between participants will determine two lucky festivalgoers who will travel to an international film festival as guests of Radikal newspaper.

Tickets for the Istanbul Film Festival will go on sale beginning March 17. Cinephiles can buy their tickets at the box offices of Atlas, Beyoğlu, and Nişantaşı Citylife (City’s), Rexx in Kadıköy and through Biletix sales channels, Biletix call centers (0216-556-9800) and biletix.com. Ticket prices of the festival are 15 Turkish Liras, and discounted tickets for students and seniors (over 65) are 9 liras. Off-price tickets for morning sessions will continue this year; the morning sessions will cost only 5 liras.

Festival screenings will take place at seven movie theaters: Atlas, Fitaş 1 and 4, Beyoğlu, and Pera Museum in Beyoğlu, CityLife Cinema (City’s) in Nişantaşı, and Rexx in Kadıköy as last year.

Film show times are: 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Highly anticipated Midnight Cinema screenings will continue this year. During the festival a film every Saturday will be screened at midnight.

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF İKSV: AWARDS TO FILMS CINEMA AND MUSIC

The Istanbul Film Festival is including a special section to contribute to İKSV’s year-long celebrations of its 40th anniversary. The sectioN presents five musicals each representing a decade in the foundation’s history since its establishment in 1973. The section’s program includes Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film “New York New York” which stars Liza Minelli and Robert De Niro, Alan Parker’s 1982 film “Pink Floyd The Wall,” written by the band’s leading man, Roger Waters. The 1990s are represented by Stephan Elliott’s “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” and the 2000s with Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” Christophe Honoré’s 2011 film, “Beloved,” will represent the 2010s.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: GOLDEN TULIPS AWARDS

The 31st Istanbul Film Festival’s International Competition features 11 films which either focus on artistic themes or adapts a work of literature to the silver screen. The competition jury is chaired by renowned Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan and among the members are actor Hiam Abbas, director Brillante Mendoza, and director Corneliu Porumboiu. The competition movies are Julia Loktev’s “The Loneliest Planet,” Ian FitzGibbon’s “Death of a Superhero,” Cristian Jimenez’s “Bonzai,” Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights,” Amir Naderi’s “Cut,” Robert Guédigian’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” Christian Schwochow’s “Cracks in the Shell,” Rodrigo Pla’s “The Delay,” Rodrigo Garcia’s “Albert Nobbs,” Nikolaj Arcel’s “A Royal Affair” and Joachim Trier’s “Oslo, 31 August.”

TURKISH CINEMA 2011-2012: THE NATIONAL COMPETITION

The festival’s national competition features 12 films all made in the 2011-2012 season. The competition movies include “Beyond the Hill” by Emin Alper, “I Flew, You Stayed” by Mizgin Müjde Arslan, “Trace” by Tayfur Aydın, “Night of Silence” by Reis Çelik, “Can” by Raşit Çelikezer, “Inside” by Zeki Demirkubuz, “Voice of My Father” by Orhan Eskiköy and Zeynel Doğan, “Where is My Mother Tongue?” by Veli Kahraman, “Home” by Muzaffer Özdemir, “Ships” by Elif Refiğ, “Present Tense” by Belmin Söylemez and “The Pomegranate” by Ümit Ünal.