Istanbul Film Festival

Istanbul is a great touristic city because the tourist finds all his needs in one place only. in one city, you find the precious well-rooted history merged with the amazing fresh natural views and places. at the same time, turkey has a very colorful culture and they are really great in sharing it with the international tourists, in istanbul, you find dance classes, turkish food classes and many festivals and fairs in almost everything and in every major, book fairs, film festival, istanbul tulip festival and more. all that in once makes this city a great unique place to visit and discover enjoying and learning about another country at the same time.

published: 21 September 2022 / updated: 7 March 2024

In this article, allow me to talk about Istanbul Film Festival, what is that festival what you can do and when where it does take in place?

Istanbul International Film Festival (Turkish: Uluslararası İstanbul Film Festivali), hosted by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, is Turkey’s first and oldest international film festival. It’s held at movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey, every year in April. The festival aims, as stated in its regulations, to encourage the development of cinema in Turkey and to promote quality films in the Turkish cinema market. The International Film Festival of Istanbul was first established in 1982 as a “Film Week” consisting of six films within the context of the International Istanbul Festival. The theme of the films participating in the Festival was limited to “Arts and Cinema,” in order to keep the event within the International Istanbul Festival context. The celebration was realized in 1983 under the title of “Istanbul Film Days,” which took place within a month throughout the festival.

The occurrence acquired a reputation as a separate operation beginning in 1984; it was moved to April’s month. In 1985, the festival program included two competitive sections, one national and the other international. “Cinema Honorary Awards” commenced being presented from 1987 onwards.

With the vast number of films shown and the consistency and flexibility of its program, The Istanbul International Film Days firmly established its position in the following years, taking its place among the world’s major film festivals.

In early 1989 the event was recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations as “a competitive specialist festival” and was approved.

The Program:

The selection and programming of the festival films are carried out by the selection committee and by the advisory committee. The curriculum consists of an international competition open only to animation and animated films about art and artists or literary adaptations, a regional competition, non-competitive, comprehensive sections on specific themes which may include documentaries, shorts, and feature films.

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The 2008 program which includes 200 films comprises the following sections:

International Competition, Turkish Cinema 2007-8, National Competition, Out of Competition, Documentaries, Festival Awards Screenings, Special Screening: Turkish Classics Revisited, Human Rights in Cinema, Galas, Challenging the Years, From the World of Festivals, Young Masters, Documentary Time with NTV, American Independents, Mined Zone, Midnight Madness, Woman is Her Name, From the Caucasus to the Mediterranean, Medscreen Arab Film Promotion, Kids’ Menu, The World of Animation: Alexander Petrov, ’68 and its Heritage, Marc Caro: Lost in Illusions, In Memoriam, Nokia series Short Film Competition.

Istanbul international film festival awards are stated below:

Golden Tulip (for the best film in the international competition), Best Turkish Film of the Year, Best Turkish Director of the Year, Special Prize of the Jury, Special Mention, Best Actor and Best Actress (national competition), Honorary Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, FIPRESCI Prize (national -in memory of Onat Kutlar- and international competitions), Film Award of the Council of Europe, People’s Choice Award.

This year, the 15th, with the support of the bridge which will be held between 15-16 April 2020 Date of Anadolu Efes, producers from Turkey and neighboring countries, the director and screenwriter, continues to meet with international film professionals. Work in Progress, the feature films in the post-production stage, while Turkey and the first international presentation of the documentary also aim to support films to be completed. The directors and producers of the films selected for the workshop will make special presentations open to professionals (distributors, festival or fund managers, TV channel representatives) within the scope of meetings on the Bridge. At the end of the workshop, the international jury will determine the films that have been awarded.