Turkish winds blow at Italian fest

TRENTO - Anatolia News Agency

Turkish band Baba Zula performed on the stage on the first day of the Trento Film Festival, which hosts Turkey as a guest of honor this year. AA photo

Italy’s oldest film event Trento Film Festival is being organized for the 61st time this year. Turkey is the guest of honor at this year’s festival, which will screen a total of 12 Turkish short and long films.

On the first day of the festival on April 17, an exhibition featuring Italian photographer Stefano Ferracci’s 29 works and Luca Chiste’s Cappadocia photos drew great interest.

Turkish band Baba Zula, which took the stage as part of the festival, also made music for the silent film Austrian director Ernst Marischka’s “Enis Aldjelis,” one of the first feature films made in Istanbul in 1917.

“It is a love story. There is romanticism. Its best part is that it shows Istanbul in 1917. This is very important to us. We excitedly observe Istanbul in the background. Istanbul is starring in the film. We take our artistic inspiration from Istanbul, too,” said the soloist of the band, Murat Ertel.

The festival’s director Luana Bisesti said that Turkey was very significant to them in terms of cinematography, adding, “Turkey has many high-quality films. We were thinking to host it in our festival.”

Until May 5, the festival will include “Gözetleme Kulesi” (The Watch Tower), “Tepenin Ardı” (Beyond the Hill), “Polluting Paradise,” “Ich Liebe Dich” (I Love You), “Ben Uçtum Sen Kaldın” (I Flew You Stayed), “Hudutların Kanunu” (Law of the Border), “Evcilik” (Playing House), “Beklemek” (Waiting), “Adak,” “Geyikbayırı,” “Anadolu’da Son Göçerle: Sarıkeçililer” (Last Nomads in Anatolia: Sarıkeçililer).