Turkish film wins big at French festival

ISTANBUL

The film “Omar ve Biz” (Omar and Us), directed by Matyna Er Gorbach and Mehmet Bahadır Er, has won awards at an international festival.

The 2019 film, shot in collaboration with TRT with the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, won three big awards at the 10th South European Film Festival (SEE) organized in France.

In the festival, which was organized online between June 2 and 7, “Omar and Us” won the best film, best script and best actor awards. Cem Bender was the recipient of the best actor award.

The film’s director of photography is Aydın Sarıoğlu and is starring Cem Bender, Taj Sher Yakub, Menderes Samancılar, Hala Alsayasneh, Uygar Tamer, Ushan Çakır, N’Sele Celia Sophie, Timur Ölkebaş, Ali Emrah Doğan, Volkan Girgin, Sedef Girgin and Savaş Sezer.

The film features the story of retired soldier İsmet, who lives at the Turkey-Greece border and whose neighbor Sabri hosts two immigrants who saved his life.

The film has also won awards at the 35th Warsaw Film Festival in Poland and the 40th Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal, as well as the 7th Kayseri Film Festival, 9th Malatya Film Festival, 7th Antakya Film Festival, 6th Bosphorus Film Festival and 6th Santa Cruz International Film Festival.

It will also be screened at the International Migration Film Festival International Competition and the Sophia and Balkan film festivals.