Turkish films go to Amsterdam screen

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Late director Seyfi Teoman’s ‘Our Grand Despair’ will be screened at the opening of the Amsterdam Turkish Film Festival, which will be held from Sept 20 to 23.

The 7 Hills Foundation has organized the Amsterdam Turkish Film Festival (ATFF) this year for the third time as part of ongoing celebrations of the 400 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands.

The festival, scheduled to take place from Sept. 20 to 23, will host a special opening gala at Pathé Tuschinski where “Our Grand Despair” (Bizim Büyük Çaresizliğimiz), directed by Seyfi Teoman who tragically passed away after a tragic accident, will be screened. Festival organizers hope to honor Teoman’s life and talent by selecting “Our Grand Despair” as the opening film.

Through its New Harvest program the festival will present recently made Turkish films, never screened in the Netherlands before. The festival will also run on a theme of Diaspora. Under the theme the festival selected films by filmmakers from a dispersed community who live beyond the borders of their country of origin. Topics such as ‘the other,’ identity and a sense of home will be reflected in this program. This year’s
festival retrospective is dedicated to the German-Turkish director Fatih Akın.

Following the screening of each film the work’s director and producers will answer questions from the audience. There will also be debates and panel discussions organized by the festival.

Caner Alper, director of “Zenne” (Zenne Dancer), Türker Korkmaz, producer of “Nar” (Pomegranate), “Eylül” (September) and “Iz-Reç” (The Trace), Ümit Ünal, director of “Nar” (Pomegranate), Barış Pirhasan, scriptwriter of “Kurtulus Son Durak” (Last Stop Independence), Kadir Balcı, director of “Turquaz,” Burak Balcı, the leading actor in “Turquaze” and Uğur Şahin, the producer of “Güzel Günler Görecegiz” (To Better Days) are among the film industry players expected to attend to the event.