Istanbul 2011

"Press" by Sedat Yilmaz FIPRESCI Prize, National Competition

"Norwegian Wood" by Tran Ann Hung FIPRESCI Prize, International Competition

Turkish film critic Onat Kutlar initiated the Istanbul Film Festival in 1982; this year it celebrates its 30th anniversary. Kutlar was one of the country's leading film critics; later he attracted international attention as writer and scriptwriter. In 1995, at the age of 58, he was killed during a bomb attack on a coffee shop in Istanbul's central Taksim Square, a meeting place visited in particular by intellectuals. For the festival, he arranged the support of Sakir Eczacibasi, an influential personality who had established the "Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts," an independent non-governmental body which still runs the film festival, among a variety of cultural activities. After Sakir Eczacibasi's death last year, his nephew Bülent Eczacibasi took over. Vecdi Sayar and Hülya Ucansu followed Onat Kutlar as festival directors; Azize Tan, who took the post several years ago, continues their legacy.
    For generations of Turkish filmmakers the festival worked as a "school" where they could study what their colleagues worldwide were doing, and how they were doing it. The public, too, enjoyed films that would have been impossible to see without the festival. For foreigners, the festival worked and still works as a bridge to Turkish cinema (many festival programmers come to scout for Turkish entries). As Turkish cinemagoers enjoy the new Turkish films, the projections are always overcrowded and the Turkish section became the festival's secret center. This overview on the national cinema offers a wonderful possibility to get acquainted with the recent production. This is particularly interesting since a new, young Turkish cinema has attracted international interest and attention (provoked by the work of Nuri Bilge Ceylan).
    This year, there were new films by known directors such as Ali Özgentürk, Erden Kiral, Seyfi Teoman, Dervis Zaim, and in addition, work by an astonishing number of newcomers. Among them, Sedat Yilmaz with his first film Press, about leftist journalists reporting on the persecution of Kurds in the early 1990s in the country's eastern regions and being killed themselves. Also notable, Hidden Lives (Sakli Hayatlar) by Haluk Ünal, a love story deeply embedded in the full-of-hate confrontation between Sunnis and Alevis in the Turkish 1980s.
    Even if there might have been better years, even if new masterpieces were missing this year, Turkish cinema remains interesting and attractive. By the way, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's new film Once Upon A Time In Anatolia was not included in the program as it will world premiere in the Cannes competition later in May.
    Hungarian director Béla Tarr received an "Honorary Award", together with Turkish actor Metin Akpinar and Turkish director Yusuf Kurcenli. French director Claire Denis headed the international jury. (k.e.)

30. Istanbul Film Festivali / 30th Istanbul Film Festival, April 2-17, 2011 http://film.iksv.org/en
The FIPRESCI Prize is dedicated to Onat Kutlar and went to Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori) by Tran Ann Hung (international competition) and to Press by Sedat Yilmaz (national competition). Details

Reports

"Press", by Sedat Yılmaz, the winner of FIPRESCI prize of Istanbul Film Festival's national competition, is a political film that touches on the subjects of freedom of the press and the Kurdish issue, which are vital for today's Turkey. Read the reviews of Nil Kurat / Alissa Simon
Good Dentists Are Hard to Find. Philip Cheah writes on the international competition. "The competition selection is peppered by a constant number of films that straddle the middle path between art and entertainment. They are basically films that give a new spin to old chestnuts."
"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me..." Frédéric Ponsard on Tran Anh Hung's Norwegian Wood, the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize in the national competition. "Norwegian Wood, a sweet-sounding name referring to the 1960s Beatles song, an invitation to travel far, to melancholy, and irresolute love... Novelist Haruki Murakami chose this title for a story of love and death, and loss of innocence for his protagonist, Watanabe. Tran Anh Hung's adaptation is faithful to the spirit of the book."
Our Grand Loneliness Reflected On The Screen. Murat Erşahin on films by Seyfi Teoman, Mike Leigh, Béla Tarr. "Loneliness, deprivation, despair, entrapment, hopelessness, exhaustion, daily life that brings us to the end of our tether, in other words "the end of the world, the last act"... These concepts are amongst those we frequently encounter at the 30th Istanbul Film Festival."
The Lead 80s. Klaus Eder reviews Hidden Lives, the first film by A. Haluk Ünal. It's a film in the tradition of a socially and politically engaged Turkish cinema and unfolds a love story on the background of a heavy conflict between the Islamic denominations of Alevis and Sunnites.
The Power of Nature. Suncica Unevska reviews Zephyr by Belma Bas, "a film about restlessness and love, a film which at the same time hurts and excites because Bas succeeds in finding a way to talk about mother nature and her strength, and her ability to bring peace and restlessness in an unpredictable and unexpected way."
Istanbul — Myth and Reality. Klaus Eder writes on Istanbul films by Erden Kiral (Halic Golden Horn) and Imre Azem (Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits). He's in particular excited about Memduh Ün's 1958 classic Three Friends in which he sees a wonderful declaration of love to Istanbul. The city is portrayed in an atmosphere of familiarity and expresses Memduh Ün's own familiarity with the places of his childhood and youth.

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