Whatever name you call it- Constantinople or Byzantium- or however you spell it (Graham Greene's Orient Express-connected novel, also filmed, styled it Stamboul Train), modern Istanbul is unquestionably a world city, a beautiful bustling megalopolis, literally joining Asia to Europe, and the only capital that has a leg in two continents. A fascinating fusion of ancient, medieval, religious and secular architecture and cultures, cuisine and and stylish contemporary design and fashion, w...
Director: Ilker CAKMAKCI.
"Monotoni" explains itself with Maurice Ravel's Bolero. Most people have a monoton life. You can use different instruments(aspects) to make your life more excited; but without adding different colours(tons), still that monotonia will be unavoidable.
Director: Serdar YILMAZ.
In a family made up of a grandmother, daughter and a 9-year old
granddaughter, granddaughter is forced to eat. The moral supporter of
this little girl who feels contented about her games and within her
own world, is a man behind the curtain only visible to her and no one
has any clue whether this man is real or imaginary.
While the Fried Chicken is a monstrous and aversive thing for the
little girl, it turns in to a four - meter -long avant-garde object
that is pulled over by the (same) man behind the curtain under cheers
in an isolated corner (street) populated by the homeless.
Director: KEREM TOPUZ.
Amateur filmmaker Kemal Mutlu captures scenes of everyday life with plans of making a film. He lives with his housemate Nuri in a small flat in Istanbul. One day, Nuri's friend from orphanage, Izzet, comes to visit unannounced. Just out of prison, Izzet's colorful character grabs Kemal's attention, and he decides to make a film about him. Unfortunately, it soon turns out that underneath his friendly exterior, Izzet is a psychopath. When he is refused entry into a bar, he gets in by force and kidnaps actress Oznur Kula. Kemal is happy to have found an actress to star in his film, however things soon get out of control as Izzet's sick plans unfold.
Present Tense, a Golden Tulip National Competition film, is
the debut fiction feature of Belmin Söylemez, who is renowned with her
documentaries. The film is about an unemployed, lonely and unhappy woman
who saves money in order to go to the United States. It bridges over
the past, the future and today through coffee reading.
Present Tense will premiere on Saturday, April 13 at 21.30 at Atlas Sineması.
Interview: Ceyda Aşar
- Your film in which you also tell about Is...
Ümit Ünal, who competes for the Golden Tulip in the National
Competition selection at Istanbul Film Festival, returns to films confined to a single space with The Pomegranate as he did in 9 and Ara. He fits justice, beliefs, injustice, fantastic elements, a surprising screenplay, revenge, and change into this small space.
The Pomegranate will be screened on Sunday, April 8 at 13.30 at Atlas Sineması.
Interview: Ceyda Aşar
- Your films 9, Ara and The Pomegrana...
YESTERDAY AT THE FESTIVAL
• TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF THE FESTIVAL As we are approaching to the end of the first week and to the middle of the festival, festival venues are full of screenings with the directors present. The festival audience met with the directors of highly anticipated films and asked their questions.
• A DARK PROMENADE AT MIDNIGHT IN BUENOS AIRES Argentine director Edgardo Cozarinsky says: “There are day people and there are night people. Night people k...
Meetings on the Bridge in its 7th Year; Film Development and Work in Progress Workshops, Funds for Co-Productions, Panels and Meetings
The Meetings on the Bridge will celebrate its seventh year during the 31st edition of the ıstanbul Film Festival to take place 31 March-15 April 2012. Meetings on the Bridge brings together producers, directors, scriptwriters and representatives of organizations so as to continue providing opportunities for initial international presentations of new featu...
In only one day the 4th edition of the Eastern Neighbours Film Festival opens the curtain in Utrecht, the Netherlands. With a total of 31 films from 9 countries the festival introduces some of the latest films from East and South Eastern Europe, from countries that are not yet members of the European Union. Also rare and yet unseen material can be found among the selection. The festival runs from October 26 - 30, 2011.
Special guest at ENFF is European Shooting Star 2011 ...
Johannes Stjärne Nilsson, Sound of Noise (2010) at 30th IFF. Takes a Turkish coffee break in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul
Swedish director Ola Simonsson (SOUND OF NOISE, 2010) pretends to hold a gun inside the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul
The main character of SOUND OF NOISE (Sweden, 2010) posing in front of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul during 30th IFF
Johannes and Ola take photos of the star of their film, SOUND OF NOISE (2010) in front of the majestic Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
Ola and Johannes touring Istanbul
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT CONCEPT BECOMES A FESTIVAL IN ISTANBUL
The 1st International Crime and Punishment Film Festival, to be organized by Istanbul University Faculty of Law in collaboration with Municipality of Başakşehir, will be held bet...
Just some stunning sights as we walk across the Golden Horn
Johannes Stjärne Nilsson, Sound of Noise (2010) in Istanbul. We hike from Taksim to Sultanahmet.
Bosphorus River Tour at 30th IFF, Dolmabahce Palace
Center of all the action! This is the area where the Istanbul Film Festival events are located, the always in motion, Taksim Square
• MEETINGS ON THE BRIDGE CONTINUE Meetings on the Bridge, the sixth of which takes place this year and which aims to create a platform for the cinema industry to meet, continue. Representatives from CNC and Unifrance, producers that target or are in the process of a co-production, and distributors will attend “Meetings on the Bridge Turkey-France Panel: Co-productions and New Media.” The panel is due to start at 10.00 in the French Cultural Center. This panel will be followed by another pa...
• MEETINGS ON THE BRIDGE START Meetings on the Bridge, the sixth of which will take place this year, aims to create a platform for the cinema industry to meet. It brings together producers, directors, scriptwriters, and industry representatives from both Europe and Turkey, giving filmmakers a chance to do their projects’ first international presentation and creating a common ground for co-productions. The first meeting will take place at 9.30 in the French Palace. The meeting for Tu...
• COMPETITIONS KICK OFF The screening of films that participate in the Festival’s National and International competitions will start. The exciting race for Golden Tulips will begin with the arrival of jury members in Istanbul.
• FROM FICTION TO FILM The film adaptation of Orhan Kemal’s 72nd Ward, which takes as its subject the lives of prison inmates in 1940s, full of misery and pain, is part of the National Competition line-up. It will be screened at 13.30 in Atlas. Follo...
On April 7, 2011, the IFF opened with...
• A “COMING OF AGE” STORY FOR ADULTS Limbo director Maria Sødahl and lead actress Line Verndal met their audience in Istanbul for the second time. Sødahl said the final act of Sonia in the film meant that she chose freedom. She said that the relationship between men and women are universal and that Limbo was a “coming of age story” for adults.
• IN HOMELAND Syllas Tzoumerkas, the director of Homeland, which re...
BANGKOK ~ The 30th Istanbul Film Festival will take place during April 2-17. With approximately 150, 000 participants last year
Istanbul Film Festival is again the biggest cinema event of Turkey and once again offers rich content.
Some 230 films in 21 sections will be shown in the festival. A wide-ranging programme composed of special retrospectives exclusive to the 30th year includes new films premiered in January at Sundance and in February at Berlin, Golden Tulip International and Na...
Did you know the wooden horse from the 2004 film Troy, is preserved on the seafront at Çanakkale, Turkey? ( The Trojan Horse was a wooden contraption in which Greek soldiers hid to trick the Trojans into opening their city gates, thus losing their long drawn out war. Helen,wife of King Menelaus of Sparta was "given" by the goddess Aphrodite to Paris, who was married and deeply in love with a nymph named Oenone, but left her for Helen. The Spartan queen eloped with ...
