28TH INTERNATIONAL ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL APRIL 4 - APRIL 19, 2009

01-04-2009

28TH INTERNATIONAL ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL APRIL 4 - APRIL 19, 2009

Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts and sponsored by AKBANK, the 28th International Istanbul Film Festival is fast approaching.

Sponsored by AKBANK, the 28th International Istanbul Film Festival will take place from April 4 to 19, 2008.

Breaking records in 2008 with audience numbers reaching a hundred and seventy thousand, this year's International Istanbul Film Festival will feature 200 films in more than 20 sections, including a selection of unforgettable classics and masterpieces of acclaimed directors next to the latest films of 2007 and 2008. As every year, panel discussions and workshops, master classes, exhibitions, receptions, and concerts will take place in the presence of well-known guests from the world of cinema in addition to a number of interesting side events.

Festival Cinemas

Yeni Rüya and Pera Müzesi movie theatres have joined the ranks of Beyoğlu movie theatres participating in the International Istanbul Film Festival this year. 200 films will be screened at a total of 7 venues, including Emek, Fitaş, Atlas, Atlas 2, Beyoğlu movie theatres in Beyoğlu and Rexx in Kadıköy and CityLife (City's) in Nişantaşı during weekends only. Screening times are 11:00 - 13:30 - 16:00 - 19:00 and 21:30.

Cinema Honorary Awards at the 28th Istanbul Film Festival

Awarded each year to artists who have left their mark on Turkish cinema, the International Istanbul Film Festival's Cinema Honorary Awards will this year be given to three artists at the opening ceremony of the International Istanbul Film Festival on Friday, April 3: Film Critic and writer Agah Özgüç, actress Hale Soygazi, and director Erdoğan Tokatlı.

The Golden Tulip

International Competition

Twelve films that brings the world of arts and artists together with the seventh art, or reflect literary works to the silver screen, will vie for the International Golden Tulip Award. The president of the International Competition jury is director Goran Paskaljevic.

12 films in the International Competition are:

Rumba / Dominique Abel-Fiona Gordon-Bruno Romy / Belgium-France
L'heure d'été / Summer Hours / Olivier Assayas / France
Le plaisir de chanter / The Joy of Singing / Ilan Duran Cohen / France
A Film With Me in It / Ian Fitzgibbon / İreland
Zift / Javor Gardev / Bulgaria
Disgrace / Steve Jacobs / Australia-South Africa

Milk / Semih Kaplanoğlu / Turkey

•· Room and a Half / Andrey Khrzhanovsky / Russia

•· Tony Manero / Pablo Larrain / Chile-Brasil

•· Forasters / Foreigners / Ventura Pons / Spain

De Usynlige / Troubled Water / Erik Poppe / Norway-Sweden
$9.99 / Tatia Rosenthal / Israel-Australia

National Competition

An important supporter of Turkish cinema and film production, Efes Pilsen has once again taken on the sponsorship of Turkish films at the Istanbul Film Festival. More then 40 fiction and documentary films are placed in the Turkish Cinema section, which brings together Turkish films produced in 2008-2009 and includes the categories National Competition, Out of Competition, and Documentaries.

There will be 14 films competing in the National Competition.

Başka Semtin Çocukları / Children of the Other Side / Aydın Bulut
Uzak İhtimal / Wrong Rosary / Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun
Hayatın Tuzu / The Salt of Life / Murat Düzgünoğlu
Kara Köpekler Havlarken / Black Dogs Barking / Mehmet Bahadır Er-Maryna Gorbach
Hayat Var / My Only Sunshine / Reha Erdem
11'e 10 Kala / 10 to 11 / Pelin Esmer
İki Çizgi / Two Lines / Selim Evci
Süt / Milk / Semih Kaplanoğlu
Vicdan / Conscience / Erden Kıral
Köprüdekiler / Men on the Bridge / Aslı Özge
Ali'nin Sekiz Günü / Ali's Eight Days / Cemal Şan
Mommo / Mommo-The Bogeyman / Atalay Taşdiken
Pandora'nın Kutusu / Pandora's Box / Yeşim Ustaoğlu
Gölgesizler / The Shadowless / Ümit Ünal

The National Competition jury that will select the Turkish film honours of this year's Festival has been announced. Lead by director Kutluğ Ataman, the jury members are cinema editor of TimeOut London Geoff Andrew, writer Ayşe Kulin, producer Zeynep Özbatur, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival Mirsad Purivatra and actress Bennu Yıldırımlar.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey will give a monetary prize of 50.000 TL to the winners of the Best Film and Best Director awards chosen by the National Competition Jury at the İstanbul Film Festival. Winners of the Best Actress and Best Actor prizes will also receive a monetary prize of 10.000 TL, also given by The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey. In line with the changes made in the festival regulations, for the first time this year, the National Competition Jury will also give prizes in the categories of Best Scenario, Best Cinematography and Best Music. The awards at the competition will also include the prize given by the International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI. In memory of Onat Kutlar, Efes Pilsen will award US$ 30.000 to the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize, to be used for the director's next film project.

Council of Europe Film Award (FACE)

Established in 2007, the Council of Europe Film Award (FACE) will be awarded again this year in cooperation with the Council of Europe and Eurimages. In the Festival's closing ceremony on Friday, April 18, the FACE statuette and the prize money of 10,000 Euros will be awarded to one of the contenders in the section "Human Rights in Cinema". The FACE jury will include Turkish director Hüseyin Karabey.

10 films that are going to compete for the FACE award are:

8^th Wonderland / Nicolas Alberny-Jean Mach / France
Autumn / Özcan Alper / Turkey
Opium War / Siddiq Barmak / South Korea-Afghanistan
Última Parada 174 / Last Stop 174 / Bruno Barreto / Brasil
La terra degli uomini rossi / Birdwatchers / Marco Bechis / Italy-Brasil
Firaaq / Nandita Das / India
Asbe Du-Pa / Two-Legged Horse / Samira Makhmalbaf / Iran
Yeryüzü Cenneti / Heaven on Earth / Deepa Mehta / Kanada
Buick Riviera / Goran Rusinovic / Hırvatistan-Bosnia Hersogevina
Johnny Mad Dog / Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire / France-Belgium-Liberia

Special Screening: Turkish Classics Revisited

Sponsored by Başak Groupama and Başak Groupama Sinema Vakfı, the Istanbul Film Festival is unearthing the most important works of Turkish cinema. The Festival restores outstanding classics of Turkish cinema and revive them. At the special screening on April 10 at Emek Movie Theatre, filmlovers will have the opportunity to watch Ö. Lütfi Akad's lost masterpiece, the 1949 Halide Edip Adıvar adaptation Vurun Kahpeye / Strike the Whore that is deemed as the best movie on War of Independence realised before 1950s.

Meetings on the Bridge

In its fourth year, the Meetings on the Bridge series of seminars organised by the International İstanbul Film Festival continues to bring together Turkish and European producers, directors, scriptwriters and representatives. Within the structure of the seminars, on April 15-16, a feature film project development workshop will be organised. Projects chosen by the Selection Committee that comprises producer Nida Karabol, directors Yeşim Ustaoğlu and Ümit Ünal, and production advisor Isabelle Fauvel will be eligible to participate to the workshop which aims at providing filmmakers an international platform where they could present their projects and find required support to initiate the production process.

The "From Screenplay to the Audience" sessions on the second day of the event will be titled "Screenplay Development", "Financing" and "Distribution". The speakers of the second day will include Ido Abram from Binger Filmlab, Amra Baksic from Cinelink, Sonja Heinen from EFM, Thibaud Bracq from Paris Project. The participation fee for these seminars that will be open only to European and Turkish film professionals is TL 50. Simultaneous English-Turkish-English translation will be available during all sessions. Updates and final programme will be announced on www.iksv.org.

For applications: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

T: (212) 334 07 00 / 825

GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION FOR İSTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL FROM SPONSORS!

28^th International İstanbul Film Festival is being realised with the support of over 20 Sponsors in addition to the Festival Sponsor AKBANK:

Efes Pilsen "Turkish Cinema"
Nokia Nseries "Nokia Nseries Short Film Competition"
NTV "Documentary Time with NTV"
1000 Volt Post Prodüksiyon"Land of Silver Cinema of Gold: Argentina"
Colin's "Young Masters"
Dole "Challenging the Years"
Ben & Jerry's "The World of Animation"
Jameson "In Memoriam"
Malaysia Airlines "Mined Zone"
TV5 Monde "Tributes: Raymond Depardon"

There will be a special section for the "Akbank Galas" this year.

"Specail Screening: Turkish Classics Revisited" section is sponsored by Başak Groupama and Groupama Gan Cinema Foundation.

The festival films coming in from around the world are carried by DHL.

The technology support for the festival comes from TEKNOSA which also provides the technical equipment in the Press Room in the Festival Centre.

The advertising campaign of the International İstanbul Film Festival is organized this year by HEP Ajans.

The official sponsors of İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts that have always given a hand in all the festivals are: Leading Sponsor Eczacıbaşı, Official Communication Sponsor Turkcell, and Official Hotel The Marmara.

DISCOUNTS FOR EVERYONE AT THE FILM FESTIVAL THIS YEAR

The tickets for the Istanbul Film Festival will be on sale as from March 21.

Discounted tickets will be available in all price categories of the popular weekday screenings. The ticket prices at the 28th International Istanbul Film Festival are 10 YTL regular and 7 YTL for students and senior citizens over 65.

Discounts for weekday daytime screenings continue to apply this year. Throughout the Festival period, weekday daytime screenings (11:00 - 13:00 and 16:00) will be only 3.50 YTL, ideal for film lovers and students. Tickets for the Akbank Galas are priced at 15 YTL.

Screening times are 11:00 - 13:30 - 16:00 - 19:00 and 21:30.

Festival tickets can be obtained from