{mosimage}Beyond the Hill which had its world premier earlier this year at the Berlin FF is a debut for Alper who has written about film and made several short films. Inside which had its world premier at the festival is the latest work from Demirkubuz who is one of Turkey's top directors. The film was produced by Festivals on Wheels team Ahmet Boyacicoglu and Basak Emre (www.festivalonwheels.org)

The jury for the international competition headed by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan awarded the Golden Tulip for best film t0 the USA German production The Loneliest Planet directed by Julia Loktev. The festival was held from 31 March to 15 April 2012.

The Festival also hosted the Meetings on the Bridge industry event once again this year from 10-12 April which brought together industry professionals from all over Europe to hear about new Turkish projects and coproductions. In the Film Development Workshop from among 12 films presented Senem Tuzen's new project Motherland was awarded 10 000 USD and Ahu Oztukr's project The Dustcloth was awarded 10 000 EUR in support. Tolga Karacelik's Lonely Child was awarded a scholarship of 2500 EUR by the Binger Lab Script Consultancy. In the Works in Progress section which presented five projects Dilek Keser's project Strangers in the House received the 1000 Volt Post Production award which consists of post production services for the film.

Istanbul Film Festival Prize Winners 2012:

International Golden Tulip Competition

The Golden Tulip in memory of Şakir Eczacıbası to THE LONELIEST PLANET directed by Julia Loktev (USA-Germany): 

Special Jury Prize to OSLO, AUGUST 31ST by Joachim Trier.

National Competition:

The Golden Tulip Best Film Award to TEPENİN ARDI / BEYOND THE HILL directed by Emin Alper for "its innovative approach in terms of cinematic language, its screenplay which plays games on the viewer, its successful construction of an allegorical world on the processes of ‘othering' -a most crucial social issue of today- and creating an enemy;"

The Best Director Award to ZEKİ DEMİRKUBUZ for his film Yeraltı / Inside "for presenting us with a universal competence and mastery, a brilliant example of ‘creative director' cinema; for its success in rendering a literary classic into his own cinema and a story from Turkey."

The Special Prize of the Jury was awarded to İZ-REÇ / THE TRACE by M. Tayfur Aydın "for depicting with a plain sense of tragedy and successfully universalising incidents that take place around a challenging journey made to the past in all terms."

The Best Actress Award to SANEM ÖGE for her performance in Şimdiki Zaman / Beyond the Hill;

The Best Actor Award to ENGİN GÜNAYDIN for his performance in Yeraltı / Inside.

The Best Screenplay Award ex aequo to EMİN ALPER for his screenplay for Tepenin Ardı / Beyond the Hill, and ORHAN ESKİKÖY for his screenplay for Babamın Sesi / Voice of My Father;

The Best Director of Photography Award to TÜRKSOY GÖLEBEYİ for his work in Yeraltı / Inside;

The Best Editing Award to ZEKİ DEMİRKUBUZ for his work for Yeraltı / Inside;

The Best Music Award to MUSTAFA BİBER for his work for İz-Reç / The Trace.

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE FILM AWARD, "FACE"

The FACE AWARD to CSAK A SZÉL / JUST THE WIND by Bence Fliegauf (Hungary-Germany-France) for "breaking the stereotypes surrounding Roma people by its subtle portrayal of the life of a family and the discrimination and violence they face."

The Special Mention ex aequo to TERRAFERMA by Emanuele Crialese (Italy-France) "whose powerful and accessible film addresses the crucial issue of migration to Europe today," and CRULIC-DRUMUL SPRE DINCOLO / CRULIC-THE PATH TO BEYOND by Anca Damian (Romania-Poland) "for her personal and highly creative response to a tragic miscarriage of justice."

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FILM CRITICS (FIPRESCI) PRIZES

The FIPRESCI Prize in the International Competition to WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom) for "the filmmaker succeeding in transforming psychologically painful states of mind into a convincing and surprising visuality, and in bringing controversial issues through original techniques to create a postmodern adaptation of a 19th century novel;"

The FIPRESCI Prize in the National Competition, to TEPENİN ARDI / BEYOND THE HILL by Emin Alper, "for the way it uses cinema's deep possibilities of abstraction to depict the universal dynamics of power and fear of the other, within a story taking place in a limited space."


PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS

People's Choice Awards sponsored by the Radikal Newspaper and determined by the votes of the Festival audience, are given to:

ALBERT NOBBS by Rodrigo García in the International Competition, and

YERALTI / INSIDE by Zeki Demirkubuz in the National Competition.