Countdown to the 31st Istanbul Film Festival organised by the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts with sponsorship of AKBANK begins. Turkey’s biggest cinema event with 150 thousand followers in its thirtieth year, the programme of the Istanbul Film Festival is rich as it is always.

The 31st Istanbul Film Festival, with the festival sponsorship of AKBANK for the eighth time, will be held between 31 March and 15 April. The Istanbul Film Festival, keeping its leading position with the variety and quality of the movies presented, promises two whole weeks full of a film programme with more than 200 movies under more than 20 sections, famous guests, seminars and workshops with expert film makers, film classes, master classes, and concerts to cinephiles.

The festival programme presents a rich content to cinephiles as always. The festival will meet the audience this year with a wide spectrum selections expanding new feature movies of 2011 and 2012, unforgetable classic movies, and masterpieces of master directors, movies having world premieres in Sundance in January and in Berlin in February, National Golden Tulip, International Golden Tulip and FACE Human Rights Competitions, documentaries, and children movies. “Cinema and Music” section planned for the 40th year of İKSV as well as new sections like “Filming Revolution”, “What’s Happening in Greece?” and “A Chinese Film Tradition: WuXia”, “Within the Family” and 15-hour-long special view of Mark Cousins’s The Story of Film: An Odyssey stand out in the festival.



İKSV 40th YEAR SPECIAL SECTION: “CINEMA AND MUSIC”

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, undertaking an important role in culture and art life in Istanbul with the festivals and activities, celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2012. The Istanbul Film Festival will also celebrate the 40th year of İKSV with a special section in its programme. In its early years, the İKSV festival programme focused mostly on classical music, but over time other artistic fields such as film, theatre, dance, art exhibitions and contemporary music were added. Later on, İKSV gathered all these art disciplines under the scope of different festivals. In the section “Cinema and Music”, which emphasises multidisciplinary structure of İKSV, a musical film selected for each 10 year period since the establishment of İKSV in 1973, will meet the audience.



GOLDEN TULIP EXCITEMENT AT THE FESTIVAL

International Golden Tulip Competition

In the “International Competition” section of the 31st Istanbul Film Festival, 11 films that received attention from film circles, dealing with themes of art and artist or literature adaptations, will compete for the Golden Tulip. The International Competition films will be presented to the audience and international jury for the Golden Tulip Award at the second week of the festival. The jury of the 31st Istanbul Film Festival International Golden Tulip Competition will be headed by prominent director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Actor Hiam Abbas, director Brillante Mendoza, director Corneliu Porumboiu, and journalist Elçin Yahşi are among the Golden Tulip International Competition Jury with Nuri Bilge Ceylan.



National Competition and Turkish Cinema

Efes sponsors “National Competition and Turkish Cinema” section of the Istanbul Film Festival again as in the last 25 years. In Turkish Cinema section of the Istanbul Film Festival, including movies completed in 2011-2012 season, there will be approximately 40 movies under National Competition as well as Out of Competition, Documentaries and New Turkish Cinema sections.

Twelve movies completed in 2011-2012 season will compete in National Golden Tulip this year in the festival. Head of jury for the 31st Istanbul Film Festival Golden Tulip National Competition will be director, screenwriter, poet, and author Murathan Mungan.

This year, 12 movies will be vying for Golden Tulip in National Cpmpetition of the festival before the jury. Following are the competition movies 3 of which will have the Turkey premierewhile 4 will have world premiere.



THE FILM AWARD OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE – FACE

FACE – The Film Award of the Council of Europe, which began six years ago and only in the Istanbul Film Festival, continues to be awarded with the support of the Council of Europe. The FACE Award will be presented to one of the films screened at Human Rights in Cinema section, which raises public consciousness and sensitivity to human rights related issues. In the Human Rights in Cinema section with 10 movies, a representative from the Council of Europe will present the FACE award statue and 10.000 Euros to the director of the winning film at the Closing Ceremony of the Film Festival. Eurimages Fund of the Council of Europe supporting co-production, distribution, and presentation of European cinema is a partner to the FACE Award.

Juanita Wilson who was awarded last year with the movie As If I'm not There,will preside over the FACE jury.



SPECIAL SCREENING IN COOPERATION WITH THE ISTANBUL DESIGN BIENNIAL: URBANIZED

In cooperation with the Istanbul Design Biennial which will be organised in October for the first time and the Istanbul Film Festival, cinephiles will have the opportunity to watch last part of the design films trilogy Urbanized by Gary Hustwit (Helvetica, Objectified). Documentary includes important architects, city planners, policy makers, and thinkers such as Sir Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas, Jan Gehl, Oscar Niemeyer, Amanda Burden, Enrique Peñalosa, Alejandro Aravena, Eduardo Paes, Rahul Mehrotra, Tarna Klitzner and Ellen Dunham-Jones, as well as extraordinary citizens who create a difference in the city they live in. Hustwti’s design trilogy will be shown in the 1st Istanbul Design Biennial to be organised in October by İKSV.



MEETINGS ON THE BRIDGE IS 7 YEARS OLD

Meetings on the Bridge, organised within the scope of the Istanbul Film Festival, and getting increasing attention of cinema professionals, will be held for the seventh times this year. Meetings on the Bridge brings together producers, directors, scriptwriters and representatives of organizations so as to continue providing opportunities for initial international presentations of new feature films, as well as setting the stage for co-productions.




Please find the detailed press release attached.







More information will be available on the official website of the Istanbul Film Festival as of Saturday, 10 March: film.iksv.org/en


For high resolution images of the 31st Istanbul Film Festival:

iksvpress.com/film2012


To apply for international press accreditation to the 31st Istanbul Film Festival, please follow the instructions at http://film.iksv.org/en/press/accreditation

The deadline for applications to the international press accreditation is 15 March, 2012.





For press enquiries:

Ms. Elif Obdan

Media Relations

Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

t: +90 212 334 07 13