29-03-2011

MEETINGS ON THE BRIDGE 2011

    MEETINGS ON THE BRIDGE 2011


    In its sixth year, the Meetings on the Bridge (MoB), aims at creating a platform, a meeting point for the film industry within the frame of the 30th Istanbul Film Festival. The programme continues to bring together Turkish and European producers, directors, scriptwriters and representatives of institutions to provide the opportunity for Turkish filmmakers to make the first international presentations of their feature film projects, and build a platform for co-productions.


    Meetings on the Bridge is introducing the Turkish-German Co-Production Film Development Fund in collaboration with Medienboard Berlin- Brandenburg and Hamburg Schleswig Holstein Funds and the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism,with a budget of 150.000 Euro.


    In addition, for the first time, Turkish-French Co-production Meetings and meetings with Italian Filmmakers Meetings will take place.


    The guests of this year's platform include Eric Garandeau, President of CNC; Marit van den Elshout, Head of Cinemart / Rotterdam Film Festival; Marten Rabarts, Artistic Director of Binger Lab; Claire Launay from ARTE; Mira Staleva from Sofia Film Lab; Roberto Olla, Executive Director - Eurimages; Savina Neirotti, Head of Torino Film Lab; Sonja Heinen, Head of Berlinale Co-production Market; Thibaut Bracq, Head of Paris Project; Katriel Schory, Head of Israel Film Fund; and award winning producers such as Cedomir Kolar (No Man's Land), Ilann Girard (Lebanon, Goodbye Bafana, March of the Penguins); and Stéphane Parthenay (Pyramid and co-producer of Three Monkeys).


    Film Development Workshop, 13-14 April
    The fourth Film Development Workshop, which receive great attention from cinema professionals, organised as part of the 30th Istanbul Film Festival will take place on April 13 and 14 this year.

    The producers and directors of the 12 film projects selected from among the 99 projects submitted this year will be having one-to-one meetings with producers, distributors and the representatives of international institutions including Rotterdam Film Festival, Eurimages, ARTE, Cinemart, Binger Lab, Torino Film Lab, and Fortissimo Films. Through these meetings, directors and producers of the elected projects find the opportunity to make the preliminary preparations and spadework for international co-production workshops and markets they will be taking part in. They also get the chance to realize the initial contact with producers and distributors who are interested in their projects and perform their international presentations without leaving the country.

    At the end of the meetings, two projects will receive the $10.000 Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism Development support, the 25.000 TL worth Melodika Post-Production Support, and 10.000 Euro CNC Support. For the first time this year, Dutch film institution Binger Lab will award a project with 2.500 Euro worth of Script Development Scholarship.

    The award winning project of 2008, Zefir (Zephyr) by Belma Baş was completed in 2010 and it received the Artistic Achievement Award at the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival and the Rajata Chakoram Award (Silver Crow Pheasant) in the 'Best Debut Film' category at the 15th Kerala International Film Festival. Zephyr continues the festival tour.

    The shooting of Sesime Gel (Come to My Voice) by Hüseyin Karabey, that received the 2009 award, will start in October 2011 and the shooting of Babamın Sesi (Voice of My Father) by Orhan Eskiköy - Zeynel Doğan, one of the award winning projects of 2010, will start in May 2011. Another award winning project, Üst Kattaki Terörist (Terrorist Upstairs) by Emre Yeksan, is currently in script writing stage. Ebedi Uykusuz (Last Sleepless) by İlke Yeşilay, which was considered praiseworthy by the jury, received the 10,000 Euro support award of the Balkan Fund at the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival.

    The Film Development Workshop is frequented especially by European producers and distributors who wish to get informed on film projects and meet the filmmakers . This year, 14 film professionals will conduct meetings with the producers and directors of the projects .

    Turkish-German Co-Production Film Development Fund

    The Istanbul Film Festival - Meetings on the Bridge, in collaboration with Medienboard Berlin- Brandenburg and Hamburg Schleswig Holstein Funds with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is proud to set up for the first time this year, the Turkish and German Co-production Development Fund. The foundations of the fund had been laid during the Turkish-German Co-Productions Panel conducted within the scope of the Meetings On The Bridge Platform of the 29th Istanbul Film Festival.

    Set up for encouraging new co-productions and cultural interaction between the two countries, the fund was formed by these three institutions with a total budget of 150,000 Euro. The fund is open to applications of Turkish-German co-productions, which haven't started shooting yet. The projects receiving funds will be announced on 14 April, following the evaluation by the jury consisting of representatives of the three institutions.

    Turkish-French Co-production Meetings and Panel

    This year, again for the first time, Turkey-France Co-production Meetings will be organized in cooperation with CNC, Unifrance and the French Embassy, bringing together film professionals from the two countries with the purpose of building a platform for co-productions. Filmmakers from Turkey whose projects were selected will be making their presentations to producers, distributors and representatives of funds and institutions from France.

    Apart from project presentations, Turkey-France co-productions will be discussed over case studies at a panel. Open to all film professionals and film buffs, the panel will be held at the French Cultural Center on 12 April. (advance accreditation TL 75 / at the entrance TL 100)

    Turkish-Italian Cooperation Meetings

    Within the scope of the 30th Istanbul Film Festival, the Italian Trade Commission / Centre and Rome MedFilm Festival / MedFilm Festival from Rome are organizing bilateral / B2B meetings between Italian film producers and Turkish TV channels, film buyers and distributors on 14 April at Lütfi Kırdar Congress Center. The aim of these meetings is to initialize possible cooperation between the film industries of these two countries.

    For more info:

    Zeynep Özbaşaran, E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., T: +90 212 373 0300


    Meetings On The Bridge continues to offer new opportunities to all filmmakers and support them in all stages of their films.
    For further information, please contact:
    onthebridge@iksvorg
    T: +90 212 334 07 91
    For media enquiries:

    Elif Obdan
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    T: +90 212 334 07 13