Filmekimi film festival to be held in three cities

ISTANBUL

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), this year’s Filmekimi film week will be held between Oct. 5 and Oct. 14. Filmekimi will also come to Ankara and İzmir during October. 

With a program consisting of films that have been screened and awarded at leading world festivals, as well as highly anticipated new productions, Filmekimi will continue to present the most recent films of the year to film lovers in Ankara and İzmir as well. 

“A Star is Born,” one of the most recounted love stories in cinema, returns in a dazzling remake directed by Bradley Cooper, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, and starring Lady Gaga in her first major Hollywood production. 

Jackson Maine is an aging rock legend weary of fame who seeks comfort in a bottle. He meets Ally, an amateur singer, at a bar. Being knocked off his feet by her talent, Jackson helps Ally achieve superstardom. After warming up her acting chops in “American Horror Story: Hotel Lady Gaga” gives a star-making turn, reprising the character played by Barbara Streisand in the 1976 retelling of the story in this directorial debut by Bradley Cooper. 

“A Star is Born” will be screened once only as the opening film of Filmekimi. 

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new Palm D’or winning film and Japan’s Oscar entry “Shoplifters,” Belgium’s submission for the Oscars, Lukas Dhont’s “Girl,” which received three awards from Cannes this year, including the Golden Camera and South Korea’s Oscar entry “Burning,” an adaptation of a Haruki Murakami story, which received the FIPRESCI at Cannes are included in the Filmekimi line-up this year. 

As usual, the Filmekimi roster features award-winning films from prestigious festivals. Legendary director Jean-Luc Godard’s “The Image Book,” which had its world premiere at Cannes and received the first-ever Special Palm D’or, Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest film “The Favorite,” which received the Grand Jury Prize and Volpi Cup for Best Actress (O. Colman) at Venice will be screened during Filmekimi. 

Other films that will also be screened are Nadine Labaki’s Cannes Jury Prize winning film “Capharnaüm,” Pawel Palikowski’s music-filled film “Cold War,” which brought him the Best Director trophy at Cannes and Italian cinema’s rising star Alice Rohrwacher’s latest film “Lazzaro Felice,” which received the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes. Gaspar Noe’s Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight winner “Climax,” Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Best Screenplay winner at Berlin “Museo” and more will also be screened during the festival. 

The sensational Paolo Sorrentino once again focuses on his country’s political machinations and turns his camera on the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in his latest film “Loro.” “Ash is Purest White” from unconventional director Jia Zhangke tells China’s story of transformation through a romantic tragedy. “Leave No Trace,” Debra Granik’s meditation on nature, city, family and modern life, Ethan Hawkes’ directorial debut “Blaze” about the country blues singer Blaze Foley and Jeremiah Zagar’s “We the Animals” about three young brothers trapped in domestic violence, are some of the other films in this year’s selection. 

Other highlights of the festival include “Mandy,” a horror-fantasy-action hybrid headlined by an instant classic performance by Nicholas Cage and directed by Panos Cosmatos, which had its international premiere at Cannes after first premiering in Sundance, David Robert Mitchell’s Hollywood neo-noir “Under the Silver Lake” and “The House That Jack Built,” the latest challenging work from Lars von Trier notable for its star studded cast and bursts of violence. 

Additionally, “Kings,” the Hollywood directorial debut of the noted director of Oscar nominated Mustang Deniz Gamze Ergüven, starring Halle Berry and Daniel Craig, will also be featured at the festival. 

Tickets for the 17th edition of Filmekimi will be on sale in Istanbul on Sept. 29. Films will be screened at four movie theaters in Istanbul: Atlas and Beyoğlu cinema in Beyoğlu, Cinemaximum City’s in Nişantaşı and the Rexx cinema in Kadıköy. 

Cinephiles will have a chance to watch Filmekimi films in Ankara at the Cinemaximum Cepa and in İzmir at the Cinemaximum Konak Pier.