02-11-2017

FESTIVALS: Malatya IFF Announces Competition Films

By
    Dede by Mariam Khatchvani Dede by Mariam Khatchvani

    MALATYA: Twelve international films and twelve Turkish films will compete in the two main competition sections of the 7th Malatya International Film Festival (MIFF) held 9-16 October 2017.

    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