The line-up of films screening at the festival consists of significant international films screened and awarded at big film festivals throughout the world in 2017, including Custody by Legrand, Foxtrot by Maoz and Loveless / Nelyubov by Andrey Zvyagintsev, screened in a Tribute section to the director. Daha / More by Saylak and Bugday / Grain by Kaplanoglu are among the films in the national competition, which have already drawn attention in international festivals. Nacer Khemir, director of the road film Bab'aziz, will head the competition jury of the international feature film competition. The national feature film competition’s jury on the other hand will be headed by Turkish actress Hulya Kocyigit.
Along with the competitions, the festival will screen acclaimed films, including some classics particularly from the cinema of Turkey. The selected films focus on family. They include Happy End by Michael Haneke, Aki Kaurismaki's The Other Side of Hope, The Square by Ruben Östlund and The House by the Sea by Robert Guediguian. The festival will also have a screening of a restored copy of Tunisian director Nacer Khemir’s first film Wanderers of the Desert / El Haimoune (1984).
Nacer Khemir heads the competition jury, consisting of Fatemeh Motamed- Arya, Intishal Al Timimi, Edvinas Puksta and Prof. Dr. Secil Buker.
The films competing for the Crystal Apricot include the Iranian feature Blockage by Mohsen Gharaei, Life and Nothing More by Antonio Méndez Esparza, Gilles Coulier's Cargo, Son of Sofia by Elina Psikou, Pomegranate Orchard / Nar Bagi by Ilgar Najaf and Centaur by Aktan Arym Kubat.
Acclaimed Turkish actress Hulya Kocyigit will head the National Feature Film Competition Jury. The Jury consists of Ebru Ceylan, Taner Birsel, cinematographer Hayk Kirakosyan and director Selim Evci.
Among the films selected for the National Competition are Mavi “Sessizlik (Blue Silence) by Bulent Ozturk,
Eksi Bir (Minus One), awarded director Orhan Oğuz’s 30th film, and three debut films: İşe Yarar Bir Şey (Something Useful) by Pelin Esmer, Kırık Kalpler Bankası (The Bank of Broken Hearts) by Onur Unlu, and Murtaza by Ozgur Sevimli. The competition also includes Sarı Sıcak (Yellow Heat) by Fikret Reyhan, and Sessizliğin Kardeşleri (Brother of Silence) by Taylan Mintaş, Sofra Sırları (Serial Cook), awarded director Umit Unal’s 8th feature film, Tas (Rock) by Orhan Eskikoy, “Yüzleşme (Confrontation) by Nejla Demirci, and Zer by Kurdish director Kazım Öz.
The festival will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between the Republic of Turkey and Korea, with screenings of films by director Hong Sang Soo and Jeong-hyang Lee, and seminars about Korean cinema. Six films by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev will be screened in a Tribute section.
Kim Dong Ho, founder and honorary director of Busan International Film Festival, will be honoured by Life Time Achievement Award. Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, director Nacer Khemir, actor Halil Ergun, singer and voice actress Belkis Ozener will receive honourary awards from MIFF.
One of the innovations in the festival this year is Malatya Film Platform. The platform not only awards ambitious films from Turkey financially but also it aims to give educational support, arrange productional cooperations, create workshops, gatherings, seminars from names such as Fabienne de Aguado, one of the founders of Centre for Cinematographic Scripts (CÉCI), who is also a teacher in Torino Film Lab, John Morrissey, awarded director Erdem Tepegoz and producer Etienne de Ricaud, who founded Caractères Productions. Twelve projects are chosen to compete in two different sections.
The complete list of films in competition follows.
International Feature Film Competition
The Blockage (Iran)
Directed by Mohsen Gharaei
Centaur (Kyrgyzstan)
Directed by Aktan Abdykalykov
Pomegranate Orchard (Azerbaijan)
Directed by Ilgar Najaf
Pela Janela (Brazil)
Directed by Caroline Leone
Dede (Georgia, UK)
Directed by Mariam Khatchvani
Produced by 20 Steps
Coproduced by Film and Music Entertainment, MP Film Production, Montauk Film Production, and JaJa Film Productions and supported by the Doha Film Institute and the Georgian National Film Centre
Cargo (Belgium)
Directed by Gilles Coulier
Son of Sofia (Greece)
Directed by Elina Psikou
Buğday (Turkey)
Directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu
Mavi Sessizlik (Turkey)
Directed by Bülent Öztürk
Daha (Turkey)
Directed by Onur Saylak
Madari (Iran)
Directed by Roqiye Tavakoli
Life and Nothing More (Spain, USA)
Directed by Antonio Méndez Esparza
National Feature Film Competition
BUĞDAY
Directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu
DAHA
Directed by Onur Saylak
EKSİ BİR
Directed by Orhan Oğuz
İŞE YARAR BİR ŞEY
Directed by Pelin Esmer
KIRIK KALPLER BANKASI
Directed by Onur Ünlü
MURTAZA
Directed by Özgür Sevimli
SARI SICAK
Directed by Fikret Reyhan
SESSİZLİĞİN KARDEŞLERİ
Directed by Taylan Mintaş
SOFRA SIRLARI
Directed by Ümit Ünal
TAŞ
Directed by Orhan Eskiköy
YÜZLEŞME
Directed by Nejla Demirci
ZER
Directed by Kazım Öz
Sponsored by Malatya International Film Festival
