Filmmor Fest starts with female directors
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
A scene from director Yeşim Ustaoğlu's movie 'Araf'
The International Filmmor Women’s Film Festival on Wheels will host films and women from 19 countries between March 15 and April 14 in a number of Turkish cities.According to the press release sent by Filmmor, the festival is dedicated to women who encounter violence and do not have the opportunity to raise their voices. The festival, which is organized by women, for women and which takes its hope and strength from women, is dedicated to all women who are violated, silenced and ignored.
With themed sections, retrospectives of female directors, opening and closing ceremonies, the 5th Golden Okra Awards ceremony, workshops and discussions, the 11th Filmmor Women’s Film Festival on Wheels will reach audiences in Istanbul from March 15-23, İzmir from March 30-31, Sinop from April 6-7 and Bitlis from April 13-14.
There will be five different categories in the festival. In the “Women’s Cinema” section, the festival team has compiled all sorts of films made by women in recent years from Turkey and abroad. In the “Our Body is Ours” section, there are films of women who declare that “our body is ours” from all over the world. In the “A Purse of Her Own” section, audiences will watch the stories of women who are also able to stand on their own feet. In the “Sex-ual-ity section,” space is given to films on issues related to sex and sexual identity. The “Women Make Movies” section is a special one and a product of the collaboration between Filmmor and Women Make Movies.
The motto of this year’s festival is, “Women don’t need competition but solidarity and to stand together.”
The aim of the festival is to represent women as non-passive, non-traditional and non-sexist, and reveal the resistance, action and dreams of women.
Yeşim Ustaoğlu.
Istanbul Modern Cinema is hosting the 11th International Filmmor Women’s Film Festival on Wheels. Dedicated this year to silent and oppressed women, the festival includes the retrospective programs of two inspiring and empowering female filmmakers: Yeşim Ustaoğlu, one of the “auteurs” of Turkey’s new cinema, and Doris Dörrie, who re-constructs the relationship between men and women with a humorous style.
Among the movies, Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s “Araf” (Purgatory) and Dorris Dörrei’s “Man” attract attention.
Dörrei’s movie focuses on a womanizer who decides to leave his home when his wife confesses to having an affair. His search for a place to stay ends in the apartment of his wife’s lover, where he starts helping the man with his job. It is a story about weird coincidences and the borders of friendship.
“Araf,” on the other hand, is a story about people caught between a despairing present and the promise of a free future. The movie follows Zehra and Olgun, two young souls trying to break away from a vicious cycle of dysfunctional families and small-town lethargy. Yet the escape they choose in order to change their destinies will lead to unforeseen consequences.
The movie received critical acclaim in international film festivals, including the best movie award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, beating out a series of international contenders. The film competed with movies such as Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Betrayal,” Michael Winterbottom’s “Everyday,” Sally Potter’s “Ginger and Rosa,” Pablo Larrain’s “No,” Takeshi Kitano’s “Outrage Beyond,” François Ozon’s “In the House,” Nouri Bouzid’s “Hidden Beauties,” Manoel de Oliveira’s “Gebo and the Shadow” and Susanne Bier’s “Ladies Only Screening: Love Is All You Need.” The movie also received the “Black Pearl” award at the festival. Turkish actress Neslihan Atagül received the Best Actress of the Present and Future Award at Moscow’s 2morrow Film Festival for her role in “Araf.”
Anne Le Ny comes to Turkey
French film director and actress Anne Le Ny will come to Istanbul and Izmir to present her latest movie, “Cornouaille,” with Vanessa Paradis and Samuel le Bihan.
In “Cornouaille,” a young woman named Odile (Vanessa Paradis), who left her home of Bretagne when she lost her father at the age of 12, returns to the town, where she meets unexpected guests from the past and discovers truths she did not know before. “Cornouaille” will be the Filmmor festival’s opening film on March 15 at the French Institute in Istanbul.
There will be two other screenings in Istanbul, on March 20 at the French Institute and on March 23 at Istanbul Modern. The movie will also be screened on March 16 in Izmir, where Le Ny will introduce the film in person along with her previous movie “Ceux qui restent” with Vincent Lindon and Emmanuelle Devos. “Ceux qui restent” is about Bertrand and Lorraine, who meet in a hospital where their partners are receiving care.
