Countdown starts to Istanbul Film Festival

ISTANBUL

'İtirazım Var' ( Let’s Sin) by Onur Ünlü is among the 10 movies who will be vying for the Golden Tulip in the National Competition.

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), the 33rd Istanbul Film Festival will take place between April 5 and 20 this year. The program of events was announced at a press conference March 5. The festival will show over 200 films in over 20 categories, as well as panels, workshops, and master classes with expert film makers for two full weeks.

Besides the festival’s now classic categories, the event will also garner interest with its new categories specific to 2014.

“What A Pair,” prepared by film critics Fatih Özgüven and Engin Ertan, academics Selim Eyüboğlu and Umut Tümay Arslan, as well as the Istanbul Film Festival Director Azize Tan in celebration of  the 100th year of Turkish cinema; “Polish Experimental Animation” organized as part of the 2014 cultural program celebrating 600 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Poland, and “MK2-40 Years,” in honor of the 40th year of the production company MK2 established by Marin Karmitz, are among this year’s exciting projects. Karmitz will also receive the festival’s Cinema Honorary Award. One of Russian cinema’s most important representatives, Aleksey Guerman’s entire filmography will be screening as part of the festival. All of the restored films from Yanaki and Milton Manaki, the Balkans’ first filmmakers, will be screening at the festival as part of the 100th year of Turkish cinema. The ninth edition of the Meetings on the Bridge, the festival’s industry section, which brings together Turkish film-makers and international professionals, will also be taking place.

This year, Polish master director Andrzej Wajda will receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The festival’s Honorary Awards will be given to seven esteemed names including screenwriter Umur Bugay, actress Sevda Ferdağ, producer Abdurrahman Keskiner, actor Eşref Kolçak, musician Attila Özdemiroğlu, and director, screenwriter and producer İrfan Tözüm.

Golden Tulip Competition films

In the “International Competition” section of the 33rd Istanbul Film Festival, 11 films dealing with themes of art and artist or literature adaptations will vie for the Golden Tulip. The International Competition Golden Tulip Award, presented in memory of Şakir Eczacıbaşı, will be supported with a 25,000-euros award by the Eczacıbaşı Group. The director of the winning film will receive 10,000 euros, the company which will distribute the film in Turkey will receive 10,000 euros, and 5,000 euros will be given to the director of the film that receives the Special Jury Award.

The Golden Tulip International Competition Jury will be headed by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, known for his films the Oscar-winning “A Separation” and “The Past.” The recipient of last year’s International Golden Tulip for his film “What Richard Did,” Irish director Lenny Abrahamson’s latest film, “Frank” and Ragnar Bragason’s latest film “Metalhead” will be competing for the Golden Tulip. Among the other films are “Tracks” by John Curran; Canadian writer/director/actor Xavier Dolan’s fourth feature “Tom at the Farm,” which is a Hitchcockian psychological thriller; an unusual coming of age tale and a cheerful autobiography, “Me, Myself and Mum,” which is a big screen adaptation of celebrated French stage actor Guillaume Gallienne’s long-running one-man show; “Papusza,” which tells the story of the first Roma poetess Bronislawa Wajs; Daniele Luchetti’s “Those Happy Years; Swedish artist Anne Odell’s first film “The Reunion;” famous theater and film director Robert Lepage’s “Triptych,” which examines the intersecting lives of a bookseller from Quebec, a German neurologist, and a jazz singer; Martin Provost’s “Violette” and “Blind,” the feature film debut of Norwegian director Eskil Vogt.

This year, 10 films will be vying for the Golden Tulip in the National Competition of the festival: these films are “Silsile” (Consequences) by Ozan Açıktan; “Şarkı Söyleyen Kadınlar” (Singing Women) by Reha Erdem; “Sesime Gel” (Come To My Voice) by Hüseyin Karabey);  “Gittiler ‘Sair ve Meçhul’” (Gone ‘The Other and The Unknown’); “Kumun Tadı” (Seaburners) by Melisa Önel; “Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş” (Once Upon A Time) by Kazım Öz; “Ben O Değilim” (I Am Not Him) by Tayfun Pirselimoğlu; “Deniz Seviyesi” (Things I Cannot Tell) by Esra Saydam and Nisan Dağ; “Ayhan Hanım” by Levent Semerci;  “İtirazım Var” ( Let’s Sin) by Onur Ünlü . The Istanbul Film Festival will also present an award in memoriam of director and producer Seyfi Teoman, who passed away at a young age.

‘Nymphomaniac’

The audience will also chance to see Lars von Trier’s controversial drama “Nymphomaniac.” The film, which was scheduled to hit Turkish cinemas on March 14 but has been banned by Turkey’s national cinema board, will also be screened in the Istanbul Film Festival.