The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) is bringing on Turkey’s biggest international cinema event, Istanbul Film Festival, for the 42nd time. Featuring 134 feature films and 29 short films – from cult classics to modern pieces, local and international, encompassing a wealth of genres – it looks to be the most ambitious entry to date. The festivities run from Friday 7 April through Tuesday 18 April. A detailed program, as well as the additional talks with guest filmmakers, concerts, and other special events can be found via the official festival page.
From the organizer:
Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the Istanbul Film Festival returns to the city for the 42nd time this year. Bringing together cinema lovers with award-winning, quality films from the Cinema of Turkey and World Cinema, as well as with special screenings, stars and master filmmakers, the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival will take place on 7-18 April.
Following a discounted early bird period for İKSV Tulip Card Members, which will begin on Monday, 27 March, festival tickets will go for general sale on Friday, 31 March.
The 42nd Istanbul Film Festival is ready to greet its audience with a rich programme comprising of 134 feature and 29 short films, including the newest voices in world cinema, works that have reached cult status, latest films of master filmmakers, and young talents. As part of the festival, films by 160 directors from 84 countries will be featured in 14 sections during 12 days. In addition to the screenings, the festival will also feature interviews with guest directors and actors, special screenings and events.
The opening film is Sundance award-winning Scrapper
The opening film of the festival is Scrapper, which won the Grand Jury Prize in World Cinema-Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival. A heart-warming father-daughter story directed by Charlotte Regan, Scrapper co-stars Harris Dickinson, who was also one of the leads in Triangle of Sadness.
Festival films to be screened across 6 movie theatres
This year the screenings of the Istanbul Film Festival will take place across 6 movie theatres: Atlas 1948 and Institut Français in Beyoğlu, CineWAM Premium+ City’s Nişantaşı (theatres 3 and 7) in Şişli, and Kadıköy Sineması and Kadıköy Municipality Sinematek/Cinema House in Kadıköy.
As in every edition of the festival, the screenings will take place at 11.00, 13.30, 16.00, 19.00 and 21.30.
42nd Istanbul Film Festival Cinema Honorary Awards
The Cinema Honorary Awards, presented by the festival to names who have devoted themselves to cinema, will be given to two film and stage actors—Kayhan Yıldızoğlu and Nevra Serezli. The awards will be presented at the opening ceremony of the festival on 6 April.
18th Meetings on the Bridge
Meetings on the Bridge, the co-production, training and networking platform that brings producers, directors and scriptwriters from Turkey and its neighbouring countries together with international film professionals, will be held this year on 12-13-14 April with the support of Anadolu Efes.
With its Film Development, Work in Progress and Neighbours workshops, and as the first platform initiated in Turkey in this field, Meetings on the Bridge provides an opportunity to filmmakers from Turkey and its neighbouring countries to present their feature fictional films and documentaries, and their films in post-production for the first time, as well as aiming for creating a platform for artistic and financial collaborations.
Sponsored by OGM Pictures, the Meetings on the Bridge: TV Series workshop enables creators of series in development to present their projects to industry professionals. A project to be selected from among the participants in the TV Series workshop of Meetings on the Bridge will also be presented the OGM Pictures Special Award, worth 50,000 Turkish Liras.
The Short Film Workshop, initiated in 2017 as a platform aimed at young filmmakers working on their first or second short films, will be held in November this year and will be sponsored by Nespresso. The workshop seeks to draw attention to the importance of short films in the film industry and contribute to the increase in productions with international potential. As part of the workshop, teams of selected projects get a chance to work with screenwriters, producers, directors of photography and casting directors to develop their ideas. Following the workshops, a project will be awarded the Nespresso Special Award, worth 30,000 Turkish Liras.
The recipients of Meetings on the Bridge Workshop Awards will be announced in a ceremony to be held on 14 April
Festival Competitions
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The jury of the festival’s International Competition is led by Portuguese auteur director João Canijo. Other members are producer Dora Bouchoucha, director Teona Strugar Mitevska, director Alexandre O. Philippe, and actress Maeve Jinkings.
Films in the International Competition:
- Parmi nous / Animalia / Sofia Alaoui / Morocco, Qatar, France
- The Survival of Kindness / Rolf de Heer / Australia
- Da-Eum-So-Hee / Next Sohee / Jung July / South Korea
- El Agua / The Water / Elena López Riera / Spain, Switzerland, France
- L’Envol / Scarlet / Pietro Marcello / France, Italy, Germany
- Atlantic Bar / Fanny Molins / France
- Im Toten Winkel / In the Blind Spot / Ayşe Polat / Germany
- Jang-e jahani sevom / World War III / Houman Seyyedi / Iran
- København findes ikke / Copenhagen Does Not Exist / Martin Skovbjerg / Denmark
- Pamfir / Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk / Ukraine, France, Poland, Chile, Luxembourg
NATIONAL COMPETITION
The jury of the festival’s National Competition is headed by director Emin Alper. Other members are actress Farah Zeynep Abdullah, cinematographer A. Emre Tanyıldız, editor Aylin Zoi Tinel, and author Seray Şahiner.
The National Competition bestows a total of 10 awards, namely Golden Tulip for Best Film, Special Prize of the Jury, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Art Director, and Best Original Music.
The winner of the Golden Tulip for Best Film will be awarded 250,000 Turkish Liras by İKSV, while 150,000 Turkish Liras will be given to the film to which the jury bestows the Kariyo & Abatay Foundation Special Jury Prize, in memory of Onat Kutlar. Anadolu Efes will grant 75,000 Turkish Liras to the recipient of the Best Director Award. A monetary prize of 15,000 Turkish Liras will be given by Alamet Holistic to the scriptwriter of the film that is selected as the recipient of the Best Screenplay Award, while Milliyet Sanat will provide 15,000 Turkish Liras to the winner of Best Art Director. The recipients of Best Original Music, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Cinematographer, and Best Editing will all be awarded 15,000 Turkish Liras each.
Films in the National Competition:
- Bir Tutam Karanfil / Cloves & Carnations / Bekir Bülbül
- Ölüler İçin Yaşam Kılavuzu / A Guide to Living for the Dead / Barış Fert
- Bars / Tulliana / Orçun Köksal
- Yüzleşme / Confrontation / Filiz Kuka
- Iguana Tokyo / Kaan Müjdeci
- Kör Noktada / Im Toten Winkel / In the Blind Spot / Ayşe Polat
- Cam Perde / Glass Curtain / Fikret Reyhan
- Boğa Boğa / Chokehold / Onur Saylak
- Suna / Çiğdem Sezgin
- Ayna Ayna / Mirror Mirror / Belmin Söylemez
- Sanki Her Şey Biraz Felaket / Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster / Umut Subaşı
NATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The jury of the National Short Film Competition of the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival comprises director Volkan Güney Eker, director and comic book artist Yorgos Goussis, and photographer and director Aylin Kızıl.
The Best Short Film will be awarded 20,000 Turkish Liras by Anadolu Efes.
Films in the National Short Film Competition:
- Avrupa Fatihi / Fatih Le Conquérant / Fatih the Conqueror / Onur Yağız
- Aforoz / The Banishment / Yılmaz Özdil
- Suriyeli Kozmonot / The Syrian Cosmonaut / Charles Emir Richards
- Birlikte, Yalnız / Together, Alone / Kasım Ördek
- Diyet / The Payoff / Handan İpekçi
- Ben Tek Siz Hepiniz / You All & I Alone / Barış Kefeli, Nükhet Taneri
- Charette / Sara Pınar Önder
- Yüzler / Faces / Zeynep Demirhan
- Evcil / The Tamed / Deniz Uymaz
- Adres / Navnişan / The Address / Aram Dildar
- 8 Mart 2020: Bir Günce / March 8, 2020: A Memoir / Fırat Yücel
NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The jury of the National Short Film Competition of the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival comprises of director Cem Kaya, director Etna Özbek, and scholar Lalehan Öcal. The Best Documentary will be awarded 20,000 Turkish Liras.
Films in the National Documentary Competition:
- Fatma’dan Sonra 40 Yıl / The 40 Years After Fatma / Sezer Ağgez
- Düet / Duet / İdil Akkuş, Ekin İlkbağ
- Anqa / Helin Çelik
- Kim Mihri / Who is Mihri / Berna Gençalp
- Dinamo Mesken / Ahmet Karanfil, Yusuf Anavatan
- Turkish Delight / Pınar Öğrenci
- Kavur / Fırat Özeler
- Boşlukta / Drifting / Somnur Vardar
Out of Competition
- Deutschlandlieder / Almanya Türküleri / Nedim Bora Hazar
- Gök Kubbenin Sevdaları / Mesut Tufan
- Tavuri / Derviş Zaim
SEYFİ TEOMAN BEST DEBUT FILM PRIZE
The jury of Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize, for which first fictional features from Turkey will be eligible, comprises Mariëtte Rissenbeek, Executive Director of the Berlin International Film Festival, director and producer M. Tayfur Aydın, and director Nazlı Elif Durlu.
The Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize is given since 2013, in memory of director and producer Seyfi Teoman, who passed away in 2012. The director of the selected film will also receive 40,000 Turkish Liras as an incentive for their subsequent film works. Since three years, the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize is granted by İKSV’s Tulip Card Membership Programme with the support of individual donors.
Films to compete for the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize:
- Ölüler İçin Yaşam Kılavuzu / A Guide to Living for the Dead / Barış Fert
- Bars / Tulliana / Orçun Köksal
- Yüzleşme / Confrontation / Filiz Kuka
- Sanki Her Şey Biraz Felaket / Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster / Umut Subaşı
FIPRESCI Prize
The International Federation of Associations of Film Critics will grant three FIPRESCI prizes in International, National, and National Short Film competitions. The FIPRESCI jury will be presided by Klaus Eder and will include Bojidar Manov, Ekrem Buğra Büte, Marietta Steinhart, Jose Solís and Yeşim Burul.
A Rebel in Hollywood: William Friedkin
With a special section dedicated to his work, the festival brings to the silver screen William Friedkin, the filmmaker who has created masterpieces across multiple genres such as crime, horror, adventure, and drama. This year, the retrospective section of the Istanbul Film Festival is dedicated to William Friedkin, one of the pioneers of the ‘New Hollywood’ movement of the 1970s with his bold stories, iconic action films and timeless cult works. Friedkin’s nine feature films from different genres such as horror, crime, thriller-adventure and drama, including The Exorcist, which celebrates its 50th anniversary, will be screened at the festival.
The films in the William Friedkin retrospective section are screened with the support of the U.S. Mission to Turkey.
- The Boys in the Band /1970
- The French Connection / 1971
- The Exorcist / 1973
- Sorcerer / 1977
- Cruising / 1980
- To Live And Die In LA / 1985
- 12 Angry Men / 1997
- Bug / 2006
- Killer Joe / 2011
The classic film to be restored by Istanbul Film Festival this year: The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet
Istanbul Film Festival continues to revive most significant works of Turkish cinema by restoring these outstanding classics with the collaboration of Zurich Sigorta. Film enthusiasts will have the opportunity to watch a cult classic from its copy digitally restored by Atlas Post Production, The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet (1976), written and directed by Metin Erksan, starring Fatma Girik as Hamlet.
A cult film now, The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet will be screened from a digitally restored copy and will be on the silver screen again as part of the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival in memoriam Fatma Girik who died last year.
The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet will be screened on Tuesday, 11 April at 19.00 at the Cinewam City’s in Nişantaşı.
Young Masters continue to be awarded
Young Masters, a traditional section of the Istanbul Film Festival, features the first or second films of young directors. The films within the Young Masters section will be evaluated by the Nespresso Youth Jury, composed of film students who are between 18 and 25 years of age, and the director of one film will be awarded the Young Master Award with the support of Nespresso. The Young Master Award, as well as 3,000 Euros of monetary prize by Nespresso, will be handed to the winning director on 18 April, during the closing and award ceremony of the festival.
The festival’s Nespresso Youth Jury comprises Malik Badalov, Aşkım Berberoğlu, Fidan Çaça, Kaan Kavas, Fikret Başar Kaya, Sude Özçalı and Elif Melisa Özhan.
Films in the Young Masters section:
- Les Damnés Ne Pleurent Pas / The Damned Don’t Cry / Fyzal Boulifa / Morocco, France, Belgium
- God’s Creatures / Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer / Ireland, England, USA
- America / Ofir Raul Graizer / Israel, Germany, Czechia
- Slow / Marija Kavtaradze / Lithuania, Spain, Sweden
- Ararat / Engin Kundağ / Germany
- Falcon Lake / Charlotte Le Bon / Canada, France
- Sígurno mjesto / Safe Place / Juraj Lerotić / Croatia
- Carvão / Charcoal / Carolina Markowicz / Brazil, Argentina
- Tengo sueños eléctricos / I Have Electric Dreams / Valentina Maurel / Belgium, France, Costa Rica
- Autobiography / Makbul Mubarak / Indonesia, Poland, Germany, Singapore, France, Philippines, Qatar
- Harka / Lotfy Nathan / France, Luxembourg, Tunisia, Belgium
- Isyhia 6-9 / Silence 6-9 / Christos Passalis / Greece
- Inland / Fridtjof Ryder / England
- Numb / Amir Toodehroosta / Iran
- 20.000 Especies de abejas / 20,000 Species of Bees / Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren / Spain
Newest Addition to the Festival: Specter
The newest addition to the festival programme, Specter aims to bring together audiences with films that enable new possibilities for narration and expand the cinematic language. Curated by director Burak Çevik, the section features films that experiment with novel narration techniques and that take risks.
- De Humani Corporis Fabrica / Lucien Castaing, Taylor Verena Paravel / France, Switzerland, USA
- Trop tôt/Trop tard / Too Early/Too Late / Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub / France, Egypt
- Herbaria / Leandro Listorti / Argentina
- Human Flowers of Flesh / Helena Wittmann / France, Germany
- Here / Bas Devos / Belgium
- In water / Hong Sang-soo / South Korea
Short Programme 1
- In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun / Sylvia Schedelbauer
- The Sparrow Dream / Robert Beavers
- Renate / Ute Aurand
- After Work / Ben Rivers, Céline Condorelli
Short Programme 2
- Labyrinths of Memory / Esra Tanrıverdi
- Long Days / Selen Solak
- Exhibition / Mary Helena Clark
- Will You Look At Me / Shuli Huang
- In-between World / Cana Bilir-Meier
- Ashes by Name is Man / Ewelina Rosinska
3rd Film Festival Symposium
The 3rd Film Festival Symposium, organised by Screenfest: Journal of Film Festival Studies as part of TÜBİTAK’s ‘Film Festivals in Turkey: Structure, Economy, Organization, Audience Profile’ project, and hosted by Istanbul Film Festival, will be realised in Kadir Has University on 7-8-9 April. This year’s theme is ‘Film Festivals, Funds and Film Industry’. The Symposium aims to provide an academic debating platform that embraces all aspects of film festivals. Welcoming academics, festival staff, film critics and film industry professionals, the symposium cordially invites everyone to attend its sessions.
The keynote speakers of the symposium are Marijke de Valck (Utrecht University/Netherlands), Skadi Loist (Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf /Germany), Tamara L. Falicov (University of Missouri-Kansas City/USA), Ana Vinuela (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle/France) and online guest Jeske van der Slikke (Hubert Bals Fund-International Film Festival Rotterdam /Netherlands).
The symposium is organised with the support of Istanbul Film Festival, Kadir Has University, Goethe-Institut Istanbul, Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, U.S. Mission to Turkey and Institut Français.
Tickets
Festival tickets are available ranging from 10 to 90 Turkish Liras. Tickets can be purchased through the festival’s official ticket provider, Passo or at the İKSV box office. Ticket holders can enter the screenings by presenting their PDF ticket sent to their e-mail address and also stored under ‘my tickets’ section on the website of Passo.
Early bird ticket sales for Tulip Card members: 27-30 March
General sale: Friday, 31 March
As part of the Eczacıbaşı Youth Ticket project, student ticket prices will be 10 TL.
Senior citizens will have a %25 discount for all screenings.
Daytime screenings on weekdays (11.00) are only 50 TL
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For more information, be sure and check out the official IKSV festival page.
All images courtesy of the organizer and intended as fair use.
