Nurnberg welcome Turk-German fest

Nuremberg - Anatolia News Agency

The honor guest of the festival will be actor Tarık Akan, who will receive an award for his contributions to cinema.

Hosting 65 directors from Turkey and 50 directors from Germany, the 17th Nuremberg Turkish-German film festival kicked off yesterday and will continue until March 11.

There will be a total of 59 movies shown at the festival, 49 of which will be gala events. The festival will host nine live music events, along with a number of seminars.

The honor guest of the festival will be actor Tarık Akan, who will receive an award for his contributions to cinema.

“The festival will host six international premieres. There will be also 17 Germany premieres and 26 Nuremberg premieres,” said festival committee President Adil Kaya.

The festival will act as a cultural bridge between the two cultures, said Kaya. “The festival is attractive in terms of cinema and its subjects.”

The Turkish-German Film Festival is an important event for artists and directors to meet each other,” said Ayten Akyıldız, a festival committee member.

“We hope that directors such as Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Christian Petzold and Fatih Akın will support this festival,” she said.

German viewers are interested in Turkish films, she added. “For example, movies such as ‘Zenne,’ ‘Mar,’ ‘Bu Son Olsun’ [Let this Be the Last], ‘Güzel Günler Göreceğiz’ [We Will See Beautiful Days] and ‘Geriye Kalan’ [The Rest], will stage international premieres at this festival,” Akyıldız said.

Germany will present five long features at the festival, while Turkey will present three.

The festival will also screen Petzold’s award-winning movie “Barbara.”

The festival competition will feature three films from Turkey. Turkish director Reis Çelik’s “Lal Gecesi” (Red Night), the German premiere of Derviş Zaim’s “Gölgeler ve Suretler” (Shadows and Faces) and “Zenne” will all compete at the festival. The German competition movies include “Töte Mich” (Kill Me), “Kaddisch für einen Freund” (A Prayer for a Friend), “Frankfurt Coincidences” and “Einer wie Bruno” (Someone Like Bruno) and “Barbara.”