Bosphorus Film Festival to host masters of film in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

'Wonder Wheel'

More than 100 films from 39 countries will be shown at this year’s International Bosphorus Film Festival, the organizers announced at a press conference held on Nov. 6 at The Marmara Pera Hotel.

Movies from Brazil to India and Iran to Kyrgyzstan will be screened in the fifth edition of the festival from Nov. 17-26, with Anadolu Agency as its global communication partner, the festival organizer Ogün Şanlıer said during the press conference.

"Our well-known guests, such as Bela Tarr, Aida Begic, Derviş Zaim, Bobby Roth and Mecid Mecidi will mingle with film-lovers at the screenings and events during the festival,” said Şanlıer.

Furthermore, he said a new category, “A Long March,” had been added to the festival program in an attempt to boost awareness of the refugee crisis.

This year’s festival program is stirring and full of innovation, according to festival director Bülent Turgut.

Turkish film director Derviş Zaim, writer Ayfer Tunç, actress Yasemin Allen, director of cinematography Feza Çaldıran and film editor Aylin Zoi Tinel will be the jury members for the national feature film competition.

The best national feature film will be awarded 100,000 Turkish Liras, said the director.

The films competing in this category are Andaç Haznedaroğlu’s “Misafir” (Guest), Ayhan Salar and Erkan Tahhuşoğlu’s “Eşik” (Threshold), Burçak Açık Üzen’s “Beginner,” Bülent Öztürk’s “Mavi Sessizlik” (Blue Silence), Fikret Reyhan’s “Sarı Sıcak” (Yellow Heat), Özgür Sevimli’s “Murtaza,” Pelin Esmer’s “İşe Yarar Bir Şey” (Something Useful) and Selman Kılıçaslan’s “Bütün Saadetler Mümkündür” (All Felicities Are Possible).

Bosnian film director Aida Begic will be the jury head for the international feature film competition.

Mejid Mejidi’s “Beyond the Clouds,” Parviz Shahbazi’s “Malaria,” Amr Salama’s “Sheikh Jackson,” Thierry de Peretti’s “A Violent Life,” George Ovashvili’s “Khibula,” Ivan Bolotnikov’s “Kharms,” Andrea Magnani’s “Easy,” Davi Pretto’s “Rifle,” Bakyt Mukul and Dastan Zhaparuulu’s “A Father’s Will” and Cristi Iftime’s “Marita” are the films competing in this category.

The award for the best international feature film will be 50,000 liras.

Begic’s film “Never Leave Me” will premiere at the festival, said Turgut. The film tells the story of three children who fled the war in Syria to come to the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.

Turgut said Hungarian film director Bela Tarr will also be in Istanbul for the festival and will give a special masterclass, adding that Tarr’s films, “Werckmeister Harmonies,” “The Man from London” and “The Turin Horse” will also be screened at the festival.

The festival coordinator, Irem Şentürk, said Hungarian art film director Laszlo Rajk and Bobby Roth, who directed episodes of popular American TV series Prison Break and Lost, are also among the festival guests

Şentürk said Woody Allen’s latest film “Wonder Wheel” will be screened in the festival’s World Cinema category. 

The festival will close with George Clooney’s “Suburbicon,” she added.

The International Bosphorus Cinema Association, the Istanbul Media Academy and the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry are responsible for organizing the festival.