Turkish Film Festival ends in LA

LOS ANGELES - Anatolia News Agency

Young Turkish directors presented their short films as part of the festival. AA Photo

The 2nd Los Angeles Turkish Films Festival concluded over the weekend in the historical Egyptian Theater. Following the opening film of the festival, Yılmaz Erdoğan’s “The Butterfly’s Dream,” Ali Aydın’s “Küf” (Mold) was shown on the second day of the event.

“Küf” is the first feature film of Aydın and previously won the Lion of the Future Award at the Venice Film Festival. The film, describing the story of a lonely man who seems to be floating in his own life, caught the attention of both film lovers and critics.

Among the U.S. jury members of the festival, one of the leading names of independent films, Rob Nilsson, said that the film had left a great impression on him and reminded him of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy.

He also said he had been impressed by “Honey,” directed by the head of the festival jury, Semih Kaplanoğlu. “Kapanoğlu is valuable for Turkish cinema as well as Aydın. Moreover, this is his first feature film. Actually, I am not surprised about it because I had only seen a few Turkish films when I first met Kaplanoğlu. I did not have any idea before then, but now I know.”

When asked if a Turkish film could become an Oscar nominate, Nilsson said, “Absolutely. This film should have been nominated, it is a first-class production.”

Emin Alper’s “Beyond the Hill” and Zeki Demirkubuz’s “Inside” were among the other feature films shown at the festival, which closed yesterday.

Short films by young Turkish directors were also shown at the festival on March 2, the third day of the event.