Ankara Film Festival announces program

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Following up on last year’s highly successful 22nd festival, Ankara International Film Festival, organized by the World Mass Media Research Foundation with support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture, is now preparing to bring an exciting array of films to audiences in Turkey’s capital March 15-22.

Because today’s world diminishes the differences between people’s lives and minds, the Ankara International Film Festival’s 23rd edition will take “uniformity” as its main theme. Almost all of us lock our focus on the same goals, and certain lifestyles are imposed upon us. Inevitably, this lack of diversity leads to complicated social issues. To emphasize the similarities in our consumption patterns, the way we entertain and communicate with each other and how we create and relate to art and culture, the festival aims to call on the audience to think about how our lives are being invaded by uniformity, and the impact this has on us.

The festival’s screening venues will include the Kızılırmak Cinema, the Batı Cinema, the Goethe-Institut Ankara, and the Çankaya Municipality Contemporary Arts Center Ankara.

Within the scope of the festival several prominent figures in film will be granted special awards. The Aziz Nesin Endeavor Award will go to Burçak Evren, a journalist, film critic, teacher, author, and activist. Evren has written numerous books including an “Encyclopedia of Cinema Artists from Turkey,” books on Sigmund Weinberg and the historic theaters of Istanbul, and a dictionary of Turkish directors.

The Mass Media Award will be presented to Panayot Abacı of Orkestra magazine. Abacı has been writing for Orkestra for more than 40 years, overcoming all of the difficulties associated with publishing during this period. He has translated important articles by and about many composers and musicians and has contributed much to the musical education of Turkey’s youth.

Hamiyet Çolakoğlu will be presented with this year’s Oak of Art Award in recognition of her status as a striking figure in Turkey’s contemporary art scene, and also of her knowledge, experience and passion for teaching.

The national competition

Some 23 films have been submitted to the National Feature Film Competition of the 23rd Ankara International Film Festival. The pre-selection committee, consisting of Prof. Dr. Oğuz Onaran, Prof. Dr. Seçil Büker and Prof. Dr. S. Ruken Öztürk, has chosen 9 films to compete, including “The Monsters’ Dinner” by Ramin Matin, “The Snake” by Caner Erzincan, “In Flames” by Murat Saraçoğlu, “The Trace” by Tayfur Aydın, “The Pomegranate” by Ümit Ünal, “Love and Revolution” by Serkan Acar, “Ecotopia” by Yüksel Aksu, and “To Better Days” by Hasan Tolga Pulat.

The competition jury will include director Çiğdem Vitrinel, director of photography Doğan Sarıgüzel, scriptwriter Osman Şahin, film critic Cüneyt Cebenoyan and academic Sami Şekeroğlu.
The National Short Film Competition’s pre-selection committee, consisting of Bilge Taş, Kıvanç Yalçıner and Ezgi Yalınalp, has chosen 23 films to compete in the categories of Best Short Fiction, Best Short Animation Film and Best Short Experimental. Each winner will be awarded 2,500 Turkish Liras.
Alp Zeki Heper’s 1966 film “Love Stories of the Pale Night” will be presented as the festival’s special screening. This will be the first time the film will have been screened in Turkey since it was censored in 1966.

Best features from the world

A selection of the best in current international filmmaking makes up the festival’s “From All Over the World” section, featuring a lavish collection of premieres and prize-winners. From Iran to Argentina, from Greece to Canada and points beyond, “From All Over the World” is a worldwide cinematic tour.
Tickets are available at festival venues and through www.mybilet.com.