‘Blue Bicycle’ to compete at Berlin Film Festival

ISTANBUL

A Turkish film titled “Mavi Bisiklet” (Blue Bicycle) will compete at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Directed by Ümit Köreken, the film will compete in the “Generation Kplus” category, the main theme of which is children and youth, to win the “Crystal Bear Award.” 

The film’s script was written by Köreken and Nursen Çetin and it will make its world premiere at the festival.
 
The film was made in 2015 in the central Anatolian province of Konya’s Akşehir district. Children in the film were selected from neighboring villages who took basic cinema and acting classes for a long time. Actors in the film include Selim Kaya, Eray Kılıçarslan, Bahriye Arın, Mustafa Küçükibiş, Burak Vurdumduymaz, Beren Yiğit, Fatih Koca, Mustafa Şimşek, Nursen Çetin Köreken and Turan Özdemir. 

“Blue Bicycle” won the Best Project Award of Cinekid Co-Production Market in 2013 in Germany and received support from the European fund Eurimages within the scope of “Film for Children” support. It also received post production support from the DOHA Film Institute. 

In the film, 11-year-old Ali is an introverted boy. His father lost his life years ago. Ali works at an auto repair shop throughout his summer holiday to support his family. He dreams of buying a blue bike. However, something unexpected happens on the first day of the school and he gives up buying the blue bicycle and takes the risk of sacrificing all the money he saved. 

The 66th Berlin Film Festival is scheduled to be held from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21.