Malatya Film Fest looks at Middle East

MALATYA - Anatolia News Agency

Actress Türkan Şoray poses on the stage when she receives the Lifetime Honorary Award at the festival. DHA photo

The third Malatya International Film Festival focused on the theme “Middle East and Peace” as it opened on Nov. 9 in the East Anatolian province of Malatya.

Malatya Gov. Vasip Şahin said the Malatya Film Festival had taken the place it deserved on Turkey’s art agenda within a short time. Speaking about the importance of art, Şahin said cinema could contribute to regional and global peace.

“The festival, which is organized with the theme ‘Middle East and Peace,’ is a kind of platform where the Middle East expresses its demand for peace and welfare to the world through the language of cinema,” the governor said.

At the opening ceremony, held at the Malatya Congress and Culture Center, veteran Turkish actors Kadir İnanır, Münir Özul, actress Türkan Şoray and producer İlker İnanoğlu were presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Actor Halit Akçatepe symbolically received the award for Özkul, who has been in the hospital for a long time for health problems.

U.S. director John Sayles, who was also expected to receive the same award, could not attend the opening ceremony due to the cancellation of his flight because of bad weather conditions in his country.

The opening ceremony ended with a concert by İlhan Şeşen.

Organized with the support of the Malatya mayor and the Malatya Apricot Research and Development Foundation, the Malatya Film Festival will host different events, panels and discussions until Nov. 15.