Istanbul 2008

"Ben X" (Nic Balthazar)

"Summer Book" (Seyfi Teoman)

The 27th edition of the Istanbul International Film Festival confirmed its reputation as a major cinematographic event, linking European and Asian cultural traditions. As the roots of the festival go back to the Istanbul Music Festival, the main theme of the international competition (12 titles) still remained the relationship between the arts and creativity, as well as adaptations of major literary works (even if this year's selection stepped sometimes out of this scope). The national competition (11 titles) presented a diversified panorama of recent Turkish productions, enthusiastically received by the young public. This was also the second year of a special Human Rights competitive section, co-organized by the festival and the Council of Europe. A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Claudia Cardinale and Cinema Honorary Awards went to Turkish actors Ekrem Bora, Izzet Gunay and Ediz Hun and the Russian director Alexander Sokurov.
    The program as a whole consisted of 200 films, representing the major tendencies of creative filmmaking all over the world with a visible emphasis on socially relevant themes and gender issues. The scope of the program covered a variety of genres and personal styles from carefully selected Turkish and foreign classics to recent films by the veterans, challenging the years and provocatively young local and American Independents. (Kirill Razlogov)

International Istanbul Film Festival, April 5-20, 2008, www.iksv.org
FIPRESCI Prizes. International competition: Ben X by Nic Balthazar (Belgium). National competition: Summer Book (Tatil Kitabi) by Seyfi Teoman. Summer Book got also the title of the Best Turkish Film of the Year from the National Jury. Details

Reports

"Summer Book" and Sad Realities under the Mediterranean Sun. The Turkish rural film genre highlights the reaction to how the country has changed in the last 25 years. Necla Algan commends director Seyfi Teoman for his use of universal themes in Summer Book to tell a simple story of rural family life.
I Am Nothing. The online world of video games incumbent in Ben X mirrors the detachment that the central protagonist feels in the everyday world. Madhu Eravankara underlines the film's powerful social message which serves as a warning to the bullies and the authorities who protect them.
Honor Killings. Two controversial films were screened at the festival inspired by true life incidents which detailed killings disguised as suicides or accidents. André Waardenburg looks at how family values were at the center of these shocking events.
The Violence of Gender. Films focusing on Human Rights and Gender were in plentiful supply at this year's festival. Kirill Razlogov highlights the major implications that came out of all of them.
"The Wave": Head Below Water. A film adaptation based on real events in a Californian high school in 1969 is transposed to present-day Germany. Burak Göral commends director Dennis Gansel for a work which is fluent, stylish, and dramatically well-acted.
A Gentle Protest. Győző Mátyás argues that Thomas McCarthy's The Visitor concentrates on the problems of human rights by foregrounding the ethnic, social and political components of the theme, while accomplishing to express it in a subtle and aesthetically refined way.

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