İzmir to host Int’l Film and Music Festival

ISTANBUL

Organized by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality with the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, General Directorate of Cinema, and in cooperation with the Intercultural Art Association, the second İzmir International Film and Music Festival will take place from June 10 to 19.

The festival, which was held for the first time last year under pandemic conditions, will present a rich program that includes more than 100 feature films due to the 100th anniversary of the liberation of İzmir.

“Like many İzmir residents, I felt the lack of a national and international cinema festival in İzmir,” said İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, who is also the chairman of the Organizing Committee of the festival.

“For this reason, we have organized an event that is suitable for the texture of our city and that will bring cinema and İzmir side by side. I am extremely proud and happy. With its natural plateaus, historical places and easy transportation opportunities, İzmir will become the epicenter of the cinema industry in a very short time. We want every street, avenue and district of İzmir to be united with the magical world of cinema and the purifying sound of music. And let art become fully integrated with the ancient texture and ordinary beauty of İzmir.”

Vecdi Sayar, the director of the festival, said, “I held festivals in many cities. I followed festivals in many parts of the world. I can say very clearly that İzmir is a very suitable place to hold a festival. It is almost perfect for the festival.”

The festival will open on June 10 at the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Center with a film music concert by Zülfü Livaneli, to be performed by the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Rengim Gökmen. Within the scope of the festival, there will be interviews, concerts and a music-themed short film development workshop, as well as films to be screened in seven open and closed venues.

The 10 films to participate in the workshop have been determined through a project competition. Workshop participants will be given 5,000 Turkish Liras each. Project owners will shoot their films after the workshop, which will take place for five days under the supervision of the selection committee members of the Short Film Project Competition, Işıl Özgentürk, Tahsin İşbilen, Cumhur Bakkan, Nihat Durak, Hilmi Etikan, Vecdi Sayar and Lale Kabadayı.

A second 5,000 liras will be given to the directors of the films when the films are completed and screened at next year’s festival.

On June 15, a performance titled “Silent Film Accompanied by Jazz” will be held at the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Center, with the contribution of the Goethe Institute, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of “Nosferatu.” Küspert & Kollegen from Germany will accompany the silent film.

At the closing and award ceremony on June 19, Nino Rota Ensemble will present a concert featuring movie soundtracks.

The festival’s Honorary Awards will be given to famous film music composers Zbigniew Preisner and composer-director Livaneli this year.

The Respect to the Masters section features the films of Alexandre Desplat and Carlos Saura. In the Memoirs section, films with music by Metin Bükey, Mikis Theodorakis and Nino Rota will be screened. The winners of the Labor Awards will be cinema and music writer Atilla Dorsay and Necip Sarıcı, who is known for his works in music and sound design and his archiving.