Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Istanbul | 44th IIFF Awards




The award-winning films of the 44th Istanbul Film Festival have been announced. Bálint Szimler's 'Let It Be a Lesson' won the Golden Tulip.

Bálint Szimler’s school drama[1] questions the outdated methods of the Hungarian educational system by employing a masterful docufiction approach.

The Istanbul Film Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) for the 44th time this year, ended with an award ceremony held at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall. Hosted by Onur Özaydın, 18 awards were presented at the ceremony. 


This year, the National Competition and the International Competition merged in the Golden Tulip Competition, and a total of 15 domestic and foreign films competed in this section. The jury, chaired by director Shekhar Kapur, included producer Ada Solomon, screenwriter and director Ebru Ceylan, actress Saadet Işıl Aksoy and Toronto International Film Festival president Cameron Bailey.

The Golden Tulip Award given to the best film in the Golden Tulip Competition is supported by the Eczacıbaşı Group, the Special Jury Award by the Kariyo & Ababay Foundation and the Best Director Award by Anadolu Efes.


Pelin Esmer won the Best Screenplay Award for O Da Bir Şey Mi. The winner was announced by producer Ada Solomon.

Sofia Berezovska won the Best Actress Award for her role in the film Under the Volcano. The award was presented by actress Saadet Işıl Aksoy.

Nazmi Kırık won the Best Actor Award for his role in the film Uçan Köfteci. The award was presented by actor Antoine Bertrand.

In addition, as part of the festival, support for industry professionals and new awards were announced within the scope of the Meetings on the Bridge event, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The İKSV Young Artist Fund - International Circulation Support Program and the mentorship program for young producers were among the prominent innovations of this year.

The winners of the Golden Tulip Competition are as follows:

Golden Tulip Best Film Award: Lesson Learned / Ders Olsun – Direction: Bálint Szimler

Jury Special Award: The Crowd / Tayfa – Direction: Sahand Kabiri

Best Director Award: Yeni Şafak Solarken – Direction: Gürcan Keltek

Best Screenplay Award: O Da Bir Şey Mi – Written by Pelin Esmer

Best Actress Award: Under the Volcano / Yanardağın Altında – Sofia Berezovska

Best Actor Award: Uçan Köfteci – Nazmi Kırık

Short Film Competition

Best Short Film: Dancing in the Corner / Köşe Dansı – Direction: Jan Bujnowski

Honorable Mention: Dilan Hakkında Konuşmeliyiz – Direction: Umut Şilan Oğurlu

Yeni Bakışlar (Seyfi Teoman Awards)

Best Film: Ayşe – Direction: Necmi Sancak

Best Cinematography: Atlet – Ayşe Alacakaptan

Best Editing: The Exam on the Edge of Time – Eşref Gürkan Kılıç

Best Art Direction: The House Without an Address – Atilla Çelik

Best Original Music: The Exam on the Edge of Time – Türkay Nişancı, Sevan Amiroğlu, İlkay Nişancı

Awards Given by Independent Juries

FIPRESCI Best Film (Golden Tulip Competition): Lesson Learned / Ders Olsun – Bálint Szimler

FIPRESCI Best Short Film: Citizen-Inmate / Arrested Citizen – Direction: Hesam Eslami

Film-Direction Best Director (In Memory of Şerif Gören): Dead Season – Direction: Doğuş Algün

BSB Documentary Award: The Exam on the Edge of Time – Direction: İlkay Nişancı

SİYAD Best Film Award: Apollon by Day Athena by Night – Direction: Emine Yıldırım

[1] Ten-year-old Palkó (a convincing Paul Mátis, using only his eyes and gestures) has recently relocated from Germany to his home country of Hungary and is struggling to adapt to the strictly regulated school environment after being accustomed to a more easy-going educational approach. Used to speaking in class, eating whenever he likes, doing things at his own pace and resisting orders, he is quickly labelled as the “difficult kid”, especially by sports teacher Ákos (music manager Ákos “Dadan” Kovács), who eventually loses his temper and strikes him. This incident makes Palkó even more stubborn and self-isolated. Meanwhile, the similarly new literature teacher Juci (theatre actress Anna Mészöly) tries not only to comfort Palkó and gain his trust, but also to suggest a different approach to engaging the students, one that goes beyond merely following the curriculum. She seeks to discover what can genuinely capture the children’s interest in a hyperactive, consumerist era where boredom is a sin and discipline feels like a dirty word. However, she remains as isolated as Palkó in her quiet rebellion. SOURCE

Monday, April 14, 2025

Ercüment Akman | Turkish Cinema Newsletter Editor

Ercüment  Akman | Turkish Cinema Newsletter Editor

Born 1950, Istanbul, Turkey

Founder/Director Silk|ROAD (2004)

Editor Turkish Cinema Newsletter
1997 - 1998 Toronto
1998 - 2025 Washington DC

Member of Film Programmers International

Chronology (1967-2025)


1967 Film Critic
Kadikoy'un Sesi, Istanbul, Turkey (local weekly)

1968-69 Film Critic 
Yeni Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (National Daily)

1969-71 Editor 
Movie Pages of HEY (national youth and music weekly)

1971-73 Short Films

1969-1974 Publications and research

(Devlet Film Arsivi) State Film Archive, State Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul

1972-74 Film Programming

(Devlet Film Arsivi) State Film Archive, State Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul
Golden Age of Danish Silent Cinema
German Silent Films
Fantastic Cinema

1987-99 Board Member

Toronto Film Society
membership / publicity / International rogramming

1988 Programmer

May 21 1988 at University of Toronto, Innis College Town Hall
Program Organized by E. Ackman
during CFFS / Canadian Federation of Film Societies AGM Film Preview Weekend
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975

1988 Film Introductions

The Best of Turkish Cinema / Toronto Science Center
Nov 19- 30, 1988
A Desperate Road / Umutsuz Yol /Omer Kavur 1985
White Bicyle /Beyaz Bisiklet / Nisan Akman 1987
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Ipekce / Bilge Olgac 1986
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
Wrestler / Pehlivan / Zeki Okten 1985
Sultanahmed Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Meydani/(documentary short) / Nesli
Colgecen
When Fogs Disappear / Sisler Kovulunca / (documentary short) / Suha Arin 1986

1989 Organizer

New Turkish Cinema
January 11- March 9, 1989

Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Cinematheque Quebecoise, Montreal PQ
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada

A Desperate Road / Umutsuz Yol /Omer Kavur 1985
White Bicyle /Beyaz Bisiklet / Nisan Akman 1987
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Ipekce / Bilge Olgac 1986
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
Wrestler / Pehlivan / Zeki Okten 1985
Sultanahmed Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Meydani/(documentary short) / Nesli
Colgecen
When Fogs Disappear / Sisler Kovulunca / (documentary short) / Suha Arin 1986

1990-97 Introductions of films and directors

Toronto International Film Festival

1990 Furuzan, Gulsun Karamustafa
1991 Omer Kavur
1992 Nizamettin Aric
1997 Dervis Zaim
1999 Yesim Ustaoglu

1990 Organized Program

on behalf of Turkish Culture and Folklore Society
Turkish Film Festival, North York, Ontario, Canada
October 10-13, 1990 at Fairview Library Theatre, North York, Ontario, Canada
My Aunt / Teyzem/ Halit Refig
After Yesterday, Before Tomorrow/ Dunden Once Yarindan Sonra/ Nisan Akman
Summer is Over/ Yaz Bitti /Zeki Alasya
Any Woman/ Herhangi Bir Kadin / Serif Goren

1993 Film Programmer

Toronto Animated Image Society
1993 Japanese Animation Program / Art Gallery of Ontario

1996 Film Programmer

Czech Cinema and Literature/
Cinematheque Ontario
Pasific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada

1996 Film Programmer

Jan 10- Feb 11, 1996 / New Turkish Cinema
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada

Motherland Hotel/ Anayurt Oteli / Omer Kavur 1987
Daydreams of Miss Cazibe / Cazibe Hanimin Gunduz Dusleri /Irfan Tozum 1993
Walking on Fire / Ates Ustunde Yurumek/ Yavuz Ozkan 1991
Berlin in Berlin/ Sinan Cetin 1993
Two Women /Iki Kadin / Yavuz Ozkan 1992
Dream Travellers/ Dus Gezginleri / Atif Yilmaz 1992

Initiated a campaign for the installation of a Toronto Historical Board plaque
at the site of the first moving picture show on the occasion of the Centennial of
Cinema

1995-2002 Interviews

Interviews on Turkish Cinema / CIUT Toronto,
Interview about Turkish Cinema / CHIN Radio, November 1, 1997
Interviews about Turkish Cinema / Voice of America, Washington DC
Voice of America interview (in Turkish)


1999 
Film Programmer

May 1 -June 27, 1999 / New Turkish Cinema

Freer and Sacker Galleries, Washington DC
The Bandit / Eskiya / Yavuz Turgul 1966
Somersault in a Coffin / Tabutta Rovesata / Dervis Zaim 1966
Lobster Pot / Yengec Sepeti / Yavuz Ozkan 1994
Innocence / Masumiyet / Zeki Demirkubuz 1998
Journey on the Clock Hand / Akrebin Yolculugu / Omer Kavur 1997
Traces / Iz / Yesim Ustaoglu
A Boat Anchored in the Desert / Colde Yanliz bir Gemi / Basar Sabuncu 1993
The Town / Kasaba / Nuri Bilge Ceylan 1997
Cholera Street / Agir Roman / Mustafa Altioklar 1998

1999-2002 
Film Programmer

New Turkish Cinema Fall-Spring

6 Feature Films / University of Boston
A Boat Anchored in the Desert / Colde Yanliz bir Gemi / Basar Sabuncu 1993
Everything's Gonna be Great / Hersey Cok Guzel Olacak / Omer Vargi 1998
Mr. Muhsin / Muhsin Bey / Yavuz Turgul 1986
Somersault in a Coffin / Tabutta Rovasata / Dervis Zaim 1996
Cholera Street / Agir Roman / Mustafa Altioklar 1998
The Wound / Yara /

Latest Voice of America interview after FilmfestDC 2002 (in Turkish)

2001 Organized TURKISH FILM FORUM

Friday June 8, 2001 at the Turkish Embassy for DC film community to seek advice on
how to make Turkish Films available for public and discuss Turkish Film Programs in
USA

2001 Guest Curator NEW TURKISH CINEMA

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery September-October 2001
Run for Money / Kac Para Kac / Reha Erdem 1999
Third Page / Ucuncu Sayfa / Zeki Demirkubuz 1999
House of Angels / Melekler Evi/ Omer Kavur 2000
A Madonna in Laleli/ Laleli'de Bir Madonna / Kudret Sabanci 1998
On Board / Gemide/ Serdar Akar 1998
Balalayka / Ali Ozgenturk 2000
Clouds of May / Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2000


2002 Film Presentation QandA

BERLINALE, Berlin, Germany Retrospective 2002
Section: Retrospective
“Ac Kurtlar/Hungry Wolwes” Turkey, 1969, by Yilmaz Güney

Covered Berlinale for Altyazi Film Magazine (Istanbul)

The 52nd annual Berlin International Film Festival  February 6 to 17

The 53rd annual Berlin International Film Festival  February 6162003.


The 54th annual Berlin International Film Festival  
515 February 2004. Interviewed Fatih Akin Gegen die Wand  Golden Bear.

The 55th annual Berlin International Film Festival 10 to 20 February 2005












2003 Member of the national Jury

22nd Istanbul International Film Festival. First presented as a film week in the summer of 1982, within the framework of the International Istanbul Festival.










2003 - 2013 Presented Turkish films and directors.
Co consultant with Sevinç Baloğlu 

The London Turkish Film Festival (LTFF) was inaugurated by Vedide Kaymak in 1993.

Participation

11th London Turkish Film Festival 10 - 16 October 2003 London, UK
12th London Turkish Film Festival + Panel Discussion
13th London Turkish Film Festival 
14th London Turkish Film Festival 
15th London Turkish Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Türkan Şoray


16th London Turkish Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Şener Şen
17th London Turkish Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Hülya Koçyiğit
18th London Turkish Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Kadir İnanır

2004 Presented Turkish films and directors 
12th London Turkish Film Festival 3 - 12 December 2004 London, UK

NEW TURKISH CINEMA IN EUROPE Panel Discussion
Organized by the London Turkish Film Festival, in collaboration with the Transcultural
Research Unit, Goldsmiths College and the Rio Cinema

Reporter: Erju Ackman (Editor of Turkish Cinema Newsletter): A summary of
the main points

2005 Co-Film Programmmer

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC


"Cinema from the Lands of Abraham," a three-stage festival of recent cinema from
producers in Turkey, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, and Afghanistan
The series organized in association with Shirin Ghareeb and the Middle East Institute,
with appreciation to David Chambers and Erju Ackman.

Part I: October 31 through November 6

Four works by acclaimed Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, including his most recent
work Uzak (Distant), winner of the Prix du Jury at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival

Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Events and Programs to Celebrate the Exhibition
“Style and Status: Imperial Costumes from Ottoman Turkey”

“Turkey’s rich cinematic legacy will be showcased in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer
Auditorium with films chosen by the Ankara Cinema
Association. 

Turkish film expert Erju Ackman will introduce each film.

Yol by Şerif Gören
Hope by Yılmaz Güney
The Herd by Zeki Ökten
Muhsin Bey by Yavuz Turgul
Innocence by Zeki Demirkubuz
The Girl with the Red Scarf by Atif Yilmaz
Motherland Hotel by Ömer Kavur
Dry Summer by Metin Erksan
The Bride by Lütfi Ömer Akad
Distant by Nuri Bilge Ceylan


2005 
Turkish Film Program (Organized for Silk|ROAD)

Turkish Cinema Showcase (all new 35 mm copies with English Subtitles)
Avalon Theater, Washington, DC

Gonul Yarasi / Lovelorn by Omer Vargi
Toss Up/Yazi Tura by Ugur Yucel
Boats out of Watermelon Rinds / Karpuz Kabugundan Gemiler Yapmak by Ahmet
Ulucay


Executive producer / Turkish American Hour/ Public Access TV Programme
A talk show with Erju Ackman on Turkish Cinema.

An interview with Tolga Ornek, the director of award-winning documentary films
(Gallipoli, Hittites, Heart of Steel: Eregli, Mt. Nemrud, Fenerbahce, and Ataturk


2000-07 
Presented Turkish films and directors during FilmfestDC

2000 “Harem Suare” Ferzan Ozpetek
“Propaganda” Sinan Cetin
“Gunese Yolculuk/Journey to Sun” Yesim Ustaoglu
2001 “Run For Money / Kac Para Kac “ Reha Erdem
2002 Yilmaz Erdogan, Omer Faruk Sorak “Vizontele”
2004 Zeki Demirkubuz “Bekleme Odasi/ Waiting Room”
“Uzak/ Distant” by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2005 Omer Vargi “Insaat/UInder Construction”
2007 Cem Yilmaz, Ali Taner Baltaci “Hokkabaz/Saltimbanque”


2005-2025

Turkish Cinema Newsletter
http://turkfilm.blogspot.com/

Digital Archives of Turkish Cinema Newsletter (1997-2005)
http://tcnarchive.blogspot.com/















Friday, April 11, 2025

Elegy | Film at Lincoln Center

 This is an item on a past event.

  • Tukish cinema scholar Erju Ackman[1] in person at the May 4 screening to discuss the work of Yılmaz Güney!

    LINK https://www.filmlinc.org/films/elegy/
  • Yılmaz Güney 
  •  
  • 1971
  •  
  • Turkey
  •  
  • 35mm
  •  
  • 80 minutes

In this return to territory explored in earlier films such as Law of the Border, Yılmaz Güney—again working as director, writer and lead actor—offers a tale about smugglers working in southeastern Turkey. Çobanoǧlu is a former peasant who took to smuggling in order to survive, made notorious by his success in eluding capture. The locals compete with each other to give information on Çobanoǧlu to the authorities for a price, while the landowners aren’t above hiring him for some of their own dirty work. Yet through it all, Çobanoǧlu keeps his dignity, convinced there must be some way out of this vicious cycle of corruption. Once again, Güney creates a powerful portrait of a society feeding on itself, destroying its own possibilities for reform or improvement. The use of landscapes recalls the look and work of Peckinpah,  whose own, similarly themed The Wild Bunch had just been released.


[1] Born 1950, Istanbul, Türkiye

Member of Film Programmers International


Founder/Director Silk|ROAD (2004)

Editor Turkish Cinema Newsletter
1997 - 1998 Toronto
1998 - 2025 Washington DC


Sunday, April 06, 2025

International Urla Gastronomy Film Festival | May 2 – May 4, 2025

International Urla Gastronomy Film Festival

May 2 • 12:00 – May 4 • 23:30

The International Urla Gastronomy Film Festival aims to bring gastronomy and cinema together, sharing the flavorful stories of diverse cultures with a wide audience. With a mission to contribute to Turkish gastronomy cinema and showcase Urla’s unique flavors to the world, the festival unites film and food on the same plate.

The Advisory Board of the International Urla Gastronomy Film Festival is composed of leading experts in their fields.
The festival, which will be held for the first time this year, aims to promote Urla's culinary culture and regional flavors worldwide. The events will take place in places with historical and natural beauties such as Urladam, Hiç Olive Forest, Manej Urla, Köstem Olive Oil Museum and Bağ Yolu.

 info@gastronomifilmleri.com

Friday, April 04, 2025

44th Istanbul Film Festival | TURKISH NEW VISIONS

 44th Istanbul Film Festival 11-22 April 2025

NEW VISIONS 

This section showcases recent productions from Türkiye that open up new visions in cinema. Debut or second feature-length films with no restriction of genres are showcased, and the best film is awarded the Seyfi Teoman Prize, after the late filmmaker.


APOLLON BY DAY ATHENA BY NIGHT / GÜNDÜZ APOLLON GECE ATHENA

Director: Emine Yıldırım TÜRKİYE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 112’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Emine Yıldırım Director of Photography: Barış AygenEditing: Selda TaşkınMusic: Barış Diri Art Director: Elif Taşçıoğlu Cast: Ezgi Çelik, Barış Gönenen, Selen Uçer, Gizem Bilgen, Deniz Türkali, Lale Mansur, Neyra Kayabaşı, Melih Düzenli Producer: Dilde Mahalli, Emine Yıldırım Production Co.: Rosa Film, Ursula Film World Sales: Rosa Film, Ursula Film

10+

2024 Tokyo Best Film – Asian Future

Raised as an orphan, Defne, has acquired the gift of seeing ghosts in her adulthood. Defne decides to use this new ability to find her long lost mother’s ghost, ending up in the ancient town of Side near Antalya. On this fantastic journey, Defne is accompanied by radical leftist Hüseyin, lounge singer Nazife, and a priestess from antiquity.

AYŞE

Director: Necmi Sancak TÜRKİYE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 76’ / Turkish; English s.t. Screenplay: Necmi Sancak, Ahmet Sancak, Binnur Kaya Director of Photography: Meryem Yavuz Editing: Osman Bayraktaroğlu Art Director: Turgay Kutlu Cast: Binnur Kaya, Rıdvan Sancak, Menderes Samancılar, Ali Seçkiner Alıcı Producer: Necmi Sancak Production Co.: Maara Film World Sales: Maara Film

2024 Antalya Best First Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Film-Yön Best Director

2024 Cairo Best Artistic Contribution - Director

Ayşe lives with her adult brother Rıdvan, who has Down syndrome, in a constantly growing and changing suburb of Istanbul. Their father has been on the verge of death in hospital for a long time. When Ayşe receives a marriage proposal from an international truck driver, who stops by the petrol station where she works, she has to choose between her fate and her dreams.

EXAM ON THE EDGE OF TIME / ZAMANIN KIYISINDA SINAV

Director: İlkay Nişancı TÜRKİYE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 100’ / Turkish; English s.t. Screenplay: İlkay Nişancı  of Photography: Özgür Yıldız & Utku Faik Yılmaz (Hava Sinematografisi Aerial Cinematography) Editing: Eşref Gürkan KılıçMusic: Türkay Nişancı, Sevan Amiroğlu, İlkay Nişancı Producer: Hakan FıçıcıProduction Co.: Reddish Films World Sales: Reddish Films

2024 Adana Best Documentary

2024 Ankara Jury Special Award

While people hadn’t yet buried their deceased, they fell into the anxiety of exams after the earthquake in Hatay. While the students see the university exam as a way out of this city where they have lost all their memories, the teachers unwittingly build their own utopia. In this period of civil inattention, while trying to memorise the subjects the exam covers, they also try to push the memories of their ruined city out of their minds. But each exam question reminds students of something. For some, distances; for some, the state; for some, a pile of debris by the sea. If the memory of a city is imprisoned in that heap of debris by the sea, the struggle for existence of people trying to build a future is nothing but an exam on the edge of time.


PAYDOS

Director: Müge ManuşTÜRKİYE / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 93’ / Turkish, English; English s.t.Screenplay: Müge ManuşDirector of Photography: Müge ManuşEditing: Hülya DelibaşMusic: Uğur CümbüşelArt Director: Müge ManuşWith: Sander Werelds, Maarten WereldsProducer: Müge ManuşWorld Sales: Ninova Films Distribution

Having no climbing experience until now, Müge finds herself facing one of the toughest challenges of her life. After crossing paths with Belgian climbers Sander and Maarten, she joins them in creating a daring new climbing route on a towering cliff in a remote Mediterranean cove. As the team pushes through the unforgiving forces of nature, confronts their deepest fears, and tests the limits of their endurance, it is courage, friendship, and the unbreakable bonds of family that drive them toward the summit.

SUMMER LIGHT / YAZ IŞIĞI

Director: Kerem Kuşçu TÜRKİYE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 104’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Kerem Kuşçu Director of Photography: Cevahir Şahin Editing: Kerem Kuşçu Art Director: Kerem Kuşçu Cast: Aytuğ Akdoğan, Kıvanç Kürkçü, Billur Melis Koç, Nehir Erdoğan, Zuhal GencerProducer: Nermin Aytekin Production Co.: Sade Sinema World Sales: Sade Sinema

6+

Living in Istanbul, Erdem is a young painter at the beginning of his career, making plans to settle in Çanakkale, where he was born and raised. When he goes to Çanakkale for two weeks to rest with his family, Erdem learns that his old friend Arda, whose ties are completely severed following the traffic accident they were involved in, is going to organize a painting exhibition in Bozcaada. He creates a reason for himself to confront his past, which he has been running away from for years. The complex aspects of Erdem’s loss of the girl he fell in love with in a fatal accident and eventually starting to take pleasure in this tragic event, his power to add to his past by seeing that experience as a fingerprint, the sense of belonging that he tries to re-establish with his family, and the power of deceiving oneself for the sake of his ideals, is a young man. We observe all through the perception of the artist.

ON THE WATER SURFACE / SU YÜZÜ

Director: Zeynep KöprülüTÜRKİYE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 90’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Selin Sevinç, Zeynep KöprülüDirector of Photography: Lucile MercierEditing: Osman Bayraktaroğlu Music: Efe Demiral, Nova NordaArt Director: Serdar YılmazCast: Cemre Ebüzziya, Nazan Kesal, Yasemin Szawlowski, Aytek Şayan, Şamil KafkasProducer: Utku Zeka, Kazım Karaismailoğlu Production Co.: Periferi Film, KK FilmsWorld Sales: Feel Sales, Ninova Films Distribution

Deniz returns to her hometown to attend her widowed mother’s wedding. The anger, fear, and guilt she thought she’d left behind, resurface during this visit.

Hevî / THE HOPE

Director: Orhan İnce TÜRKİYE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 80’ / Kurdish; Turkish, English s.t.Screenplay: Orhan İnce Director of Photography: Cem Geneşke Editing: Erhan Örs Art Director: Cengiz Toprak, Hasan İnce Cast: Ömer Akalın, Yavuz Akkuzu, Bedriye Roza Çelik, Deniz Sal, Nazmi Karaman, Ruken Önen, Güldestan Yüce, Mekin KılıçProducer: Burak Kanısıcak, Orhan İnceCo-Producer: Deniz SalProduction Co.: Sinemarjen Film World Sales: Sinemarjen Film

2024 Adana Best Promising Actor

Nine-year-old Zeyno, who is hearing and speech impaired, lives with her father Mustafa and her older brother Çeto in their house far away from the village. She spends all her time with her sheep, which she inherited from her mother. Çeto starts earning his own money by helping Emin, a livestock dealer he met by chance. When their father Mustafa starts buying and selling animals with Emin, Zeyno starts to worry about her sheep.

ATHLETE/ ATLET

Director: Semih Gülen, Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun TÜRKİYE, GERMANY, ROMANIA / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 89’ / Turkish, Bosnian; English s.t. Screenplay: Semih Gülen, Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun Director of Photography: Ayşe Alacakaptan Editing: Semih Gülen, Arda Çiltepe Music: Eylül Deniz Keleş Art Director: Günsu Sarı Cast: Sevda Baş, Tarhan Karagöz, Esra Kızıldoğan, Bilgesu Akın, Gamze Akça Özcan, Ercan Kesal Producer: Arda ÇiltepeCo-Producer: Zeynep Dişbudak, Anamaria Antoci, Anda Ionescu, Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Claus Herzog-Reichel, Mario von Grumbkow Production Co.: Vigo Film World Sales: Vigo Film

Hatice, a young and ambitious weightlifter living with her unemployed mother, aims to win the lifetime allowance provided to athletes who win medals in international competitions. In her pursuit of success at all costs, she decides to use an unconventional doping technique at the world championships: She will get pregnant, boost her hormones, and then have an abortion. But when her attempts don’t go as well as she’s anticipated, she has to take unexpected detours.

IN THE SHADE OF THE POPLAR TREE / KAVAK AĞACININ GÖLGESİNDE

Director: Kenan Diler TÜRKİYE / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 64’ / Turkish, Kurdish; Turkish, English s.t. Screenplay: Kenan Diler Director of Photography: Kenan Diler Editing: Kenan Diler Music: Eriş Dervişoğlu, Sabır Erdinç With: Mikail Haskanlı Producer: Kenan DilerProduction Co.: Dlr FilmWorld Sales: Dlr Film

Mikail, who simultaneously looks like a madman and a dervish, runs an extraordinary cafe in order to isolate himself from the society and the strict, traditional structure of his family. He tries but struggles to open a boutique hotel for his mother, who is his father’s second wife since the age of 14 and is persecuted in this patriarchal structure. He dreams that she can live in this hotel so she can forget all that she went through.

THE HOUSE WITH NO ADDRESS / ADRESİ OLMAYAN EV

Director: Hatice Aşkın TÜRKİYE, GREECE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 96’ / Turkish; English s.t. Screenplay: Hatice AşkınDirector of Photography: Feza Çaldıran Editing: Smaro Papaevangelou Music: Nassos Sopilis, Saki Çimen Art Director: Atilla Çelik Cast: Boran Kuzum, Osman Sonant, Zeynep Tuğçe Bayat Producer: Emre Oskay, George Kyriakos, Engin Altan Düzyatan Production Co.: Sky Film, Vantablack Films, View Master Films, Alpha Film World Sales: Arthood Entertainment

Those who commit one of the nine major offenses –greed, arrogance, lust, anger, envy, sloth, extravagance, treachery, and violence– are tried under the law of oblivion, and when they die, all their possessions are collected and their property is confiscated. Criminals’ personal belongings and corpses are ground in the grinding factory, and all their traces are completely erased from life. Alper, a young lawyer, is at work when he receives the news that his mother Andaç has died suddenly in an ironic traffic accident. When Alper returns home with his father, they are shocked to see the oblivion law officials collecting his mother’s belongings.


UNFRUITFUL TIMES / ÖLÜ MEVSİM

Director: Doğuş AlgünTÜRKİYE, ITALY, NORTH MACEDONIA / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 120’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Selen Örcan, Doğuş AlgünDirector of Photography: Ece LatifaoğluEditing: Doğuş AlgünArt Director: Bengü Şener, Ahmet YörükCast: Funda Eryiğit, Ece Yaşar, Erdem Şenocak, Serkan Ercan, Haydar Şahin, Naz Göktan, Nesrin Uçarlar, Feri Baycu Güler, Banu Fotocan, Tolga TekinProducer: Burak KaplanCo-Producer: Paolo Ansaldi, Mari Pia Billi, Bunjamin Kurtishi, Fidush Aliu, Harika Uygur, Funda EryiğitProduction Co.: Gest FilmWorld Sales: Gest Film

2024 Adana Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor

2024 Ankara Mahmut Tali Öngören Best First Film, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor

After a tragic miscarriage, middle-aged Nimet is stuck in her conservative neighbourhood in Istanbul, while her beloved younger sister Öznur carries a burden of her own in the family, struggling with her own demons.

44th Istanbul Film Festival 11-22 April 2025 | HONORARY AND OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARDS

Mavi Boncuk |

CINEMA HONORARY AWARD 
ZUHAL OLCAY

■ She graduated from Ankara State Conservatory. In the 1980s, she starred in various TV productions, including her first TV film, Sönmüş Ocak, and later Parmak Damgası. During this period, in addition to the screen, she also appeared on the stage with the play The Seagull (1986), which won her the Avni Dilligil Theatre Award, and the musical Evita (1989), which had a great influence on the beginning of her singing career.  She acted in Desperate Road (Ömer Kavur, 1985), and she won the Golden Film Strip Best Actress Award in Germany for her performance in Farewell to False Paradise (Tevfik Başer, 1989). Her success in cinema continued with The Secret Face (Ömer Kavur, 1991), based on Orhan Pamuk’s novel The Black Book, which won the Best Turkish Film of the Year Award at Istanbul Film Festival and the Best Film Award at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. With Innowhereland (Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, 2002), she won many awards both in Turkey and abroad, notably at Istanbul Film Festival. In her artistic career, she has achieved success with numerous stage plays, films, and music albums. She won many awards, including the Most Successful Actress of the Year Award at the 26th Yapı Kredi Afife Theatre Awards for the play The Bald Soprano (2024). She has been serving as the President of the Actors’ Union since 2024.


OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA 
GÜLİN ÜSTÜN

■ She worked at major international advertising agencies and established their production departments. In 2000 joined Atlantik Film, one of the largest feature film and commercial film production companies. She was in charge of the international promotion, marketing, and financing of feature films while finalising the sales to several territories including UK, France, Benelux, and the US. She established GU-FILM for production and consultancy for project development and marketing. After providing production services to several international films, she realised a co-production with Belgium. In 2006, she was on the advisory board of Meetings on the Bridge, the first co-production market of Türkiye. Between 2010 and 2023 she was the head of Meetings on the Bridge. She is a script advisor and also the film programming manager at Soho House İstanbul. She is an Eave and TorinoFilmLab Script&Pitch program alumna

44th Istanbul Film Festival | Turkish Films of Golden Tulip Competition

 



44th Istanbul Film Festival 11-22 April 2025

IIFF 2025 | Turkish Films of Golden Tulip Competition


THE SHALLOW TALE OF A WRITER WHO DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER

Director: Tolga KaraçelikUSA / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 102’ / English; Turkish s.t.Screenplay: Tolga KaraçelikDirector of Photography: Natalie KingstonEditing: Evren LuşMusic: Nathan KleinCast: Steve Buscemi, John Magaro, Britt Lower, Sydney Cole Alexander, Ward HortonProducer: Scott Aharoni, Sinan Eczacıbaşı, Alihan Yalçındağ, Wren Arthur, Steve Buscemi, Alex Peace Power, Mustafa Kaymak, Tolga KaraçelikProduction Co.: Cinegryphon Entertainment, Curious Gremlin, Asteros Film, Olive Productions, Theatriste, Pak Pictures, Mavi Baykuş (in association with)World Sales: UTA

International Premiere

2024 Tribeca (USA) Audience Award–Narrative Second Place


Keane, a struggling writer in the midst of a divorce, befriends a bizarre man named Kollmick, who claims to be Keane’s biggest fan and a retired serial killer. Kollmick tries to persuade a very drunk Keane to write about him, and incidentally becomes his marriage counsellor when he meets Keane’s wife Suzie. Of course, now he has to become Keane’s killing counsellor for his next book, too. Written and directed by Tolga Karaçelik, the dark comedy with a stellar cast had its world premiere at Spotlight Narrative Section at Tribeca Film Festival.

HYSTERIA

Director: Mehmet Akif BüyükatalayGERMANY / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 103’ / German, English, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish; Turkish, English s.t.Screenplay: Mehmet Akif BüyükatalayDirector of Photography: Christian KochmannEditing: Denys Darahan, Andreas MennCast: Devrim Lingnau İslamoğlu, Mehdi Meskar, Serkan Kaya, Nicolette Krebitz, Aziz Çapkurt, Nazmi KırıkProducer: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Claus Herzog-ReichelProduction Co.: filmfaust, ZDFWorld Sales: Pluto Film Distribution Network GmbHTurkish Rights: MUBI

International Premiere

2025 Berlin Europa Cinemas Label




Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s second feature that follows Oray starts with the filming of a provocative feature about the xenophobic arson attacks on German migrant residences in the 1990s. When a genuine Quran goes up in flames during the shooting, the incident infuriates everyone on set, fingers are pointed at the Turkish-German director, making accusations of racism. Caught in this confrontational crossfire is production intern, Elif, who soon realises that everybody involved has layered motivations and agendas at play. Offering unique and insightful observations, Hysteria tackles the subtle racism and hypocrisy that preoccupies thoughts about immigrants and foreign cultures. The film had its premiere at the Panorama section of the 2025 Berlinale.

IDEA

IDEA

Director: Tayfun PirselimoğluTÜRKİYE, ROMANIA, FRANCE / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 93’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Tayfun PirselimoğluDirector of Photography: Andreas SinanosEditing: Ali AgaMusic: Nikos KypourgosArt Director: Natali YeresCast: Tarhan Karagöz, Nalan Kuruçim, Ercan Kesal, Jale ArıkanProducer: Vildan ErşenCo-Producer: Vlad Radulescu, Guillaume de Seille, TRT SinemaProduction Co.: Mitra FilmsWorld Sales: Mitra Films

Türkiye Premiere

10+


Kemal works as a watchman in a villa belonging to a shady businessman. One day, late at night when he’s on the bus, a peculiar man gets on, sits nearby, leaves a book on his seat, and gets off. Kemal aimlessly browses through the pages of the book titled IDEA, and puts it back down. His life turns into living hell after that night. He is accused of an unspecified crime, and all his attempts to figure things out are in vain. Thereafter, he is treated as the leader of a secret organisation and he finds himself gradually turning into that person.

NEW DAWN FADES

YENİ ŞAFAK SOLARKEN

Director: Gürcan KeltekTÜRKİYE, ITALY, GERMANY, NORWAY, THE NETHERLANDS / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 130’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Gürcan KeltekDirector of Photography: Peter ZeitlingerEditing: Murat Gültekin, Semih GülenMusic: Son of PhilipCast: Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu, Ayla Algan, Erol Babaoğlu, Suzan Kardeş, Dilan Düzgüner, Gürkan GedikliProducer: Arda ÇiltepeCo-Producer: Manuela Buono, Marc Van Goethem, Stefan Gieren, Fernanda RennoProduction Co.: Vigo FilmWorld Sales: Heretic


It’s been years since Akın has been in and out of the hospital. He’s relentless, angry, and shell-shocked from being stuck in the system. Since his most recent discharge, he’s now well aware that his old life is long gone. He has become unable to leave his family house except for occasional visits to religious monuments in Istanbul. During those visits, he falls into a state of ecstasy as he tries to take refuge in God. These divine structures trigger something in him. As he loses touch with his true self, his mind shifts into another reality. New Dawn Fades had its world premiere at Locarno Film Festival.

I’M HERE, I’M FINE

BURADAYIM, İYİYİM

Director: Emine Emel BalcıTÜRKİYE, GERMANY / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 100’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Emine Emel BalcıDirector of Photography: Murat TuncelEditing: Eytan İpeker, Melike KasaplarMusic: Andreas LucasArt Director: Meral Efe YurtsevenCast: Bige Önal, Elit İşcan, Görkem Mertsöz, Mustafa Sönmez, Elçin Atamgüç, Ayhan Kavas, Ayşe Lebriz Berkem, Uygar BodurProducer: Dilek Aydın, Emine Emel BalcıCo-Producer: Jens Meurer, Derya TürkmenProduction Co.: Heimatlos Films, Prolog FilmWorld Sales: Heimatlos Films & Prolog Film

World Premiere

Filiz, a young, working mother, struggles with postpartum depression. Seeking moments of escape, she sets out to buy ‘a car of her own.’ Along the way, Filiz meets Şule, and her search for a car turns into an unexpected bond, offering both women a chance at solidarity.

THE THINGS YOU KILL

ÖLDÜRDÜĞÜN ŞEYLER

Director: Alireza KhatamiFRANCE, POLAND, CANADA, TÜRKİYE / 2024 / DCP / Colour / 113’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Alireza KhatamiDirector of Photography: Bartosz SwiniarskiEditing: Selda Taşkın, Alireza KhatamiArt Director: Meral AktanCast: Ekin Koç, Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü, Ercan KesalProducer: Elisa Sepulveda-Ruddoff, Cyriac Auriol, Mariusz Włodarski, Alireza Khatami, Michael SolomonCo-Producer: Marta Gmosińska, Ekin Koç, Cenk ÜnalerzenProduction Co.: Fulgurance, Remora Films, Lava Films, Tell Tall Tale, Band With Pictures, SineaktifWorld Sales: Best Friend Forever

+16

Balkan Premiere

2025 Sundance Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic


Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, a university professor coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance. But as his family and the authorities investigate the old man’s disappearance, Ali begins to doubt the rightness of his actions. Iranian filmmaker Alireza Khatami wrote, directed, and co-produced The Things You Kill, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival.

AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW

O DA BİR ŞEY Mİ

Director: Pelin EsmerTÜRKİYE, BULGARIA, ROMANIA / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 115’ / Turkish; English s.t.Screenplay: Pelin EsmerDirector of Photography: Barbu BalasoiuEditing: Özcan VardarArt Director: Elif TaşçıoğluCast: Timuçin Esen, Merve Asya Özgür, İpek Bilgin, Nur Sürer, Mehmet Kurtuluş, Şebnem Hassanisoughi, Asiye Dinçsoy, Sermet Yeşil, Fehmi Karaarslan, Laçin Ceylan, Deniz Karaoğlu, Oğuz KaraProducer: Dilde Mahalli, Pelin Esmer, Kerem ÇatayCo-Producer: Poli Angelova, Nikolay Todorov, Tudor GiurgiuProduction Co.: Sine Film, Rosa Film, Ay YapımWorld Sales: Sine Film, Rosa Film, Ay Yapım

10+

Türkiye Premiere


Celebrated film director Levent, the guest of honour at the Söke Film Festival from Istanbul, is completely unaware of Aliye, a twenty-something housekeeper at the hotel where he is staying. But Aliye, who is trying to make a new life for herself, knows Levent and his films very well. Aliye’s intriguing story brings together these two distant people with completely different lives. Now they must choose between reality and fiction. And The Rest Will Follow had its world premiere at Rotterdam Film Festival.

Rotterdam IIF  | Dreamy housekeeper Aliye spends her days between hotel rooms, escaping into the lives of the guests. But after a brief encounter with a famous filmmaker, Aliye decides that she has a story to tell, leading to an entanglement of lives and fictions.

Aliye is a fan-girl of the renowned filmmaker Levent, who has arrived at the hotel she works at as the honorary guest of the Söke Film Festival. At first, as locals inundate the filmmaker with their sorrows and heartbreaks, hoping for a chance to immortalise themselves on the big screen, she quietly watches him from afar. But before long Aliye has pulled Levent into the murky waters of the past.

In this tender drama, the two strangers spur one another’s imaginations to give shape to their life stories. With a keen eye for the unusuality found in the friendships strangers strike, Pelin Esmer (Watchtower, 2012) returns to IFFR. Working across documentary and fiction, she distils our human relationships to ‘storytellers’ and ‘listeners’ who, inescapably, transform one another.

If we’re bound to fade as actualities and all that remains of us is a story, Aliye dares to tell it in her own words. – Reman Sadani

THE FLYING MEATBALL MAKER

UÇAN KÖFTECİ

Director: Rezan YeşilbaşTÜRKİYE, GERMANY, BULGARIA / 2025 / DCP / Colour / 106’ / Turkish, Kurdish; Turkish, English s.t.Screenplay: Rezan YeşilbaşDirector of Photography: Dilşat CananEditing: Osman Bayraktaroğlu, Yaşar Buğra Dedeoğlu, Rezan YeşilbaşCast: Nazmi Kırık, Selin Yeninci, Aram Dildar, Cahit Şahin Yalçın, Aslı Işık, Ali Bengin YeşilbaşProducer: Rezan Yeşilbaş, Azat YeşilbaşProduction Co.: Rez FilmWorld Sales: Rez Film

Türkiye Premiere

Kadir, a meatball vendor, discovers that he can realise his long-standing desire to fly thanks to a device called a ‘paramotor’, a powered parachute. From that moment on, he starts to practise parachuting hopefully and tirelessly. This extraordinary dream is widely considered utterly odd, provocative, and even causes him to be heavily criticised. Moreover, due to the political mood in the city, this passion for flying causes unexpected incidents, absurd as a threat to airspace security. Despite everything he goes through, Kadir does not give up on his dream and his passion for gliding in the sky with his colourful parachute. The Flying Meatball Maker had its world premiere at Rotterdam Film Festival.

Rotterdam IIF  | Meatball-maker Kadir dreams of taking flight but his in-laws vehemently disapprove, however, with a little help he may actually make good on this obsession, but as the old saying goes – best not fly too close to the sun.

Like Daedalus, Icarus and countless others before him, Kadir dreams of flying. His days are spent in the kitchen with his wife, Azize, preparing the meatballs he sells at night from his popular street kiosk. But with every spare waking moment, Kadir listens to podcasts, talks with his buddies, or searches on his phone to increase his knowledge about soaring above the earth. But as Kadir’s personal wishes and family responsibility come into conflict, it’s clear that he has little control over either.

Kadir’s flying machine of choice involves a parachute, which he can barely control, and a caged propeller strapped to his back – which looks about as perilous as it sounds. Nevertheless, after he locates a fellow flyer who is willing to tutor him in the finer skills of paramotoring, and it’s not long before Kadir is taking significant steps towards success. Azize’s gossiping family, however, disapproves.

Rezan Yeşilbaş directs his feature debut with care and a sense of flair, the result is a contemplative and endearing political comedy.   – Nicholas Davies