Istanbul Film Festival around the corner
ISTANBUL
Countdown to the 37th Istanbul Film Festival has begun. The festival will present a selection of the finest productions and feature special screenings, star actors and master directors from April 6 to 17.
The Istanbul Film Festival will showcase around 40 films by directors from Turkey under three categories: National Competition, Documentaries, and Short Films.
The jury of the 37th Istanbul Film Festival’s National Competition will be presided over by writer-director Pelin Esmer and comprises cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki, actress Selen Uçer, poet-writer Küçük İskender, and film critic Barbara Lorey de la Charrière.
The National Competition Jury will distribute awards in nine categories: Best Film, Best Director, Special Prize of the Jury, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Editing, and Best Original Music.
The Cinema Honorary Awards of the festival will be presented on April 6 to Perihan Savaş, a veteran actress who has acted in 130 films and TV series in a lifetime dedicated to the film industry; Osman Şahin, a unique writer and scriptwriter; and the most prolific, “naughtiest” filmmaker in Turkish cinema Aram Gülyüz.
Each year since 2008, the Istanbul Film Festival restores Turkish classics, and for the first time this year, Bilge Olgaç’s 1987 masterpiece “İpekçe” was restored to be screened during the festival.
Based on true stories, told by master storyteller Osman Şahin and written by Şahin and Olgaç, “İpekçe” tells the story of an unfortunate prostitute and the hypocrisy that surrounds her.
The Istanbul Film Festival will also cooperate with the art space Arter for a program that takes a holistic approach to the production process of the Berlin-based artist Ali Mahmut Demirel. Known for his experimental video works, live visual designs, performances and the music videos he produced for Plastikman, Richie Hawtin and Captain Comatose; Demirel’s solo exhibition curated by Başak Doğa Temür, “Isle” will be organized by Arter and take place between March 16 and July 15. The films “The Last of England” (Derek Jarman), “Stalker” (Andrei Tarkovsky) and “Kuyu” (Metin Erksan), which inspired Demirel’s three videos at the exhibition, will be shown at the festival.
The festival will celebrate the talent and legacy of the great Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman with a special selection on the centenary of his birth. Ten filmmakers from Turkey have selected nine of his films and will be introducing them at their screenings during the festival in April.
“Wild Strawberries,” “The Seventh Seal,” “Winter Light,” “The Silence,” “Persona,” “Shame,” “Cries and Whispers,” “Scenes from a Marriage” and “Autumn Sonata” will be films by Bergman to be screened at the festival.
The “musicians” section of the festival will present a selection of films about musicians or the great stories they bring - real or imaginary.
“Looking for Oum Khultum,” “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” and “Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars” are among these films.
The complete program of the 37th Istanbul Film Festival will be announced in March 2018.