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