‘Snow screen fest’ starts in Turkey’s east in legend’s memory

KARS

A movie festival named “Snow screen festival” in which spectators will get a chance to watch movies projected on a screen made of snow has started in the eastern province of Kars in the memory of Tuncel Kurtiz, a legendary actor who died in 2013.

Within the scope of the activities, local artists have built a 2-meter-high screen and a huge portrait of Kurtiz made of snow on the frozen Lake Çıldır.

The mastermind behind the festival is Reis Çelik, a director who shot a documentary called “İnat Hikayeleri” in Kars with Kurtiz in 2003.
“It was our dream to hold a ‘snow screen festival’ here. Now I will actualize the fest in the memory of him,” Çelik told Demirören News Agency.

The festival will only screen movies that were shot in Kars and the neighboring province, Ardahan.

“We suggested this fest years ago, but the conditions of the time did not allow us to make it come true. Now, today, I am very happy,” Çelik said before the opening ceremony on March 2.

When asked if the festival will continue in the following years, he quickly replied, “Absolutely.”

The second festival that will be held next year will be an international movie festival. “We will have foreign participants,” he said.

Çelik, who was born in Ardahan in 1961, said he had one more “snow screen festival” idea in mind.

“I want to construct another snow screen on the frozen Kura River in Ardahan and hold another snow screen festival there.”

Located on the border between Kars and Ardahan, Lake Çıldır, the second-largest lake in eastern Anatolia, freezes in winters. Tourists ride on sleighs or try ice fishing on the frozen lake.

Kurtiz, who acted in more than 70 movies, including many international productions, died nine years ago following a fall-inflicted head trauma at the age of 77.