‘Yellow Heat,’ ‘Clair Obscur’ lead pack at Istanbul Film Festival awards

ISTANBUL

Fikret Reyhan’s “Yellow Heat” was the big winner at the awards for the 36th Istanbul Film Festival, picking up four Golden Tulips, including one for best film.

“Yellow Heat” was closely followed by Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s “Clair Obscur,” which one three awards, including one for best director to the veteran filmmaker Ustaoğlu.

The awards were presented on April 14 at Istanbul’s Soho House in the International and National Golden Tulip Competitions, FACE Human Rights in Cinema, National Documentary and National Short Film Competitions, as well as the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize and FIPRESCI International, National and National Short Film Awards.

Twelve films vied for the Golden Tulip in the festival’s National Competition, with 10 of them staging their world premieres and one staging its first screening in Turkey during the festival. 

The National Golden Tulip Competition Jury awarded prizes in nine categories: Golden Tulip Best Film, Golden Tulip Best Director, special jury award, best actress, best actor, best screenplay, best director of photography, best editing and best music. 

In addition to the best film award to “Yellow Heat” and best director award to Ustaoğlu, the Special Jury Prize in memory of Onat Kutlar was given to “Blue Silence” by Bülent Öztürk. 

Ecem Uzun won the best actress award for her role in “Clair Obscur,” while Aytaç Uşun won the best actor award for his role in “Yellow Heat.” 

The best screenplay award in the national competition was given to Öztürk for “Blue Silence,” while Marton Miklauzic won the best director of photography award in the National Competition for “Yellow Heat.”  

The best editing award in the National Competition was given to Ömer Günüvar and Reyhan for “Yellow Heat,” while the best original music award in the national competition went to Antoni Komasa-Lazarkiewicz for “Clair Obscur.” 

The International Competition Golden Tulip went to “The Ornithologist,” directed by João Pedro Rodrigues, while the International Competition Golden Tulip Special Jury Prize went to the film “Summer 1993,” directed by Carla Simón.

National Short and Documentary Competition 

Focusing on the objectives of encouraging the making of short films, supporting the development of the field and presenting outstanding short films to audiences, the National Short Film Competition was held for the second time this year.

Filiz Işık Bulut’s “Zelal” won the best short film award while Pınar Yorgancıoğlu’s “Mrs. Nebile’s Wormhole” won a special mention.

This year, nine films competed in the National Documentary Competition launched by the Istanbul Film Festival in order to support documentary filmmakers and documentary film production in Turkey. 

The National Documentary Competition Jury consisted of documentary directors Lusin Dink, Ayşe Polat and journalist Erkan Aktuğ. 

The best documentary award was given to “Mother Derdo and The Walnut Tree” directed by Serdar Önal. Meanwhile, Mehmet Sertan Ünver’s “Blue” won the special mention. 

Since 2013, the Istanbul Film Festival has honored the late producer and director Seyfi Teoman with a prize presented in his memory. 

This year, the recipient of the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize was determined by a jury composed of producer Çiğdem Mater, actress Şebnem Bozoklu and producer Sinan Yabgu Ünal. 

Thirteen debut films produced in Turkey and screened in the festival’s Turkish Cinema section were nominated for the prize. Öztürk’s film “Blue Silence” was presented a monetary award of 30,000 Turkish Liras via CMYLMZ Fikirsanat, while also receiving a special mention.

Meanwhile, the FACE Council of Europe Cinema Award was given to “Félicité” by Alain Gomis. 

In every edition of the festival, The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) presents three FIPRESCI Awards in the International Competition, National Competition and National Short Film Competition categories. This year, the FIPRESCI jury was headed by Klaus Eder from Germany and included Alberto Castellano from Italy, Ofer Liebergall from Israel, Ladislav Volko from Slovakia and Abbas Bozkurt and Evrim Kaya from Turkey.

The winners of the FIPRESCI Awards included “In Between” by Maysaloun Hamoud in the International Golden Tulip Competition, “Something Useful” by Pelin Esmer in the National Golden Tulip Competition and “Hinterland” by Sinan Kesova in the National Short Film Competition.