The Istanbul Film Festival () is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its regulations, the festival aims to encourage the development of cinema in Turkey and to promote films of quality in the Turkish cinema market.Istanbul Film Festival regulations , retrieved December 15, 2007
The 40th edition of the festival was held from April 1 to June 29, 2021, in hybrid format.
History The Istanbul International Film Festival was first organized in 1982, within the frame of the International Istanbul Festival as a "Film Week" consisting of six films.Istanbul Film Festival history , retrieved December 15, 2007 The theme of the films participating in the Festival was limited to "Arts and Cinema", to keep the event within the context of the International Istanbul Festival. In 1983 the event was realized under the title of "Istanbul Filmdays", taking place throughout the Festival within a span of a month.
Beginning from 1984, the event gained an identity as a separate activity; it was shifted to the month of April. In 1985, two competitive sections, one being national and the other international, were included in the festival program. From 1987 on, "Cinema Honorary Awards" began to be presented.
In the following years, The Istanbul International Filmdays firmly established its position and took its place among the major film festivals of the world with the large number of films shown and the quality and versatility of its program.
At the beginning of 1989 the event was recognized as "a competitive specialized festival" by International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) and was accredited. Parallel to this development, "Istanbul Filmdays" was renamed as "Istanbul International Film Festival".
Beginning from 1996, "Lifetime Achievement Awards" along with "Cinema Honorary Awards" began to be presented to international cineastes, actors and actresses.
In 2006, celebrating its 25th year, the festival created a meeting platform for Turkish and European film professionals under the title "Meetings on the Bridge", aiming to bring European film institutions with Turkish directors and producers to discuss funding possibilities. Also in 2006, Azize Tan, the then assistant director of the festival replaced Hülya Uçansu as director.
In 2007, the Council of Europe, in collaboration with Eurimages, started to present the Film Award of the Council of Europe (FACE) to a film selected from the entries in the Human Rights and Cinema section of the festival. The Council of Europe and later Eurimages support for this award was discontinued in 2020.
With its 28th edition in 2009, the festival began to give its Golden Tulip Award also as a result of its National Competition.
The festival dropped the "international" from its title in 2011. Azize Tan was replaced by the assistant director of the festival, Kerem Ayan, in 2015. In 2016, the festival changed the theme of the international competition to "new perspectives in cinema."
Since the beginning of the Festival, a total of 2,065,000 spectators have attended the screenings of 2,330 films from 72 different countries (2005 figures). The festival boasted an audience of 170,000 in 2007, breaking its own record.
Censorship
In 1988, government inspectors forced the withdrawal of 5 of 160 films that are to be screened at the festival. Jean-Jacques Beineix's Betty Blue and Vedreba (The Plea) by Tengiz Abuladze were among these five works. Vedreba was being blocked on the grounds that it was "anti-Islamic" and cuts from the other four films were demanded because of erotic scenes.
Upon the notification by the censorship board that certain films on the program were to be banned, the then president of the Golden Tulip Jury, Elia Kazan, organised a protest march with the participation of Turkish filmmakers. The Turkish Ministry of Culture subsequently issued a decree holding all international film festivals exempt from censorship.
Program
The selection and programming of the festival films is conducted by the selection committee and the advisory board. The program consists of an international competition open only to feature and animated films on art and artists or literary adaptations, a national competition, non-competitive, informative sections on specific themes which can include documentaries, shorts and feature films.
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 Nseries Short Film Competition
Awards list
These awards are presented within the context of the festival: Golden Tulip (for the best film in the international competition) Golden Tulip (Best Film in the National Competition as of 2010, formerly Best Turkish Film of the Year) Best Turkish Director of the Year Special Prize of the Jury (in memory of Onat Kutlar) Best Actor and Best Actress (national competition) FIPRESCI Prize (national -in memory of Onat Kutlar- and international competitions) Human Rights in Cinema Award (previously FACE--Film Award of the Council of Europe, discontinued as of 2021) People's Choice Award (discontinued as of 2016)
Golden Tulip winners
Year Film Director Nationality 1985 1984 Michael Radford 1986 Yesterday Radosław Piwowarski 1987 Guard Me, My Talisman (Khrani menya, moj talisman) Roman Balayan 1988 Travelling Avant Jean-Charles Tacchella 1989 A Film with No Name (Za Sada Bez Dobrog Naslova) Srdjan Karanovic 1990 Pomegranate and Cane (Nar O Nay) Saeed Ebrahimifar 1991 Farendj Sabine Prenczina 1992 Life on a String (Bian Zou Bian Chang) Chen Kaige 1993 Manila Paloma Blanca Daniele Segre 1994 The Blue Exile (Mavi Sürgün) Erden Kıral 1995 The Silences of the Palace (Saimt el Qusur) Moufida Tlatli 1996 Little Sister (Zusje) Robert Jan Westdijk 1997 The King of Masks (Bian Lian) Wu Tian-ming 1998 Ayneh (The Mirror) Jafar Panahi 1999 El Viento se Llevó lo Qué (Gone with the Wind) Alejandro Agresti 2000 Clouds of May (Mayıs Sıkıntısı) Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2001 No Place to Go (Die Unberührbare) Oskar Roehler 2002 Magonia Ineke Smits 2003 Suddenly (Tan de repente) Diego Lerman 2004 Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Bu San) Tsai Ming-liang 2005 La Femme de Gilles Frédéric Fonteyne Café Lumière Hou Hsiao-hsien 2006 A Cock and Bull Story Michael Winterbottom 2007 Reprise Joachim Trier 2008 Egg (Yumurta) Semih Kaplanoğlu 2009 Tony Manero Pablo Larraín 2010 The Misfortunates Felix Van Groeningen 2011 Microphone Ahmad Abdalla 2012 The Loneliest Planet Julia Loktev 2013 What Richard Did Lenny Abrahamson 2014 Blind Eskil Vogt 2015 Cancelled 2016 Un Monstruo de Mil Cabezas Rodrigo Plá 2017The OrnithologistJoão Pedro Rodrigues2018WesternValeska Grisebach2019House of Hummingbird (Beol-sae / 벌새)Kim Bora2020Atlantis (Atlantyda / Атлантида)[https://web.archive.org/web/20210411083233/https://film.iksv.org/en/festival-awards/39th-istanbul-film-festival 39. İstanbul Film Festivali]. film.iksv.org/tr/. 2020[https://web.archive.org/web/20210906180540/https://film.iksv.org/en/the-39th-istanbul-film-festival-2020/atlantis Atlantis]. film.iksv.org/tr/. 2020Ukrainian movie wins top honor at Istanbul Film Fest. aa.com.tr/en/. 21.10.2020Valentyn Vasyanovych2021MadalenaMadiano Marcheti2022VortexGaspar Noé2023World War III (Jang-e jahani sevom / جنگ جهانی سوم)Houman Seyyedi2024Forever-Forever (Nazavzhdy-Nazavzhdy / Назавжди-Назавжди)Anna Buryachkova 2025Lesson LearnedBálint Szimler
Other awards
National Competition
YearIstanbul Film Festival awards , retrieved 2007-12-15 Awards of the 28th International Istanbul Film Festival , retrieved 2009-07-23 Film Director 1985 Bir Yudum Sevgi (A Sip of Love) Atıf Yılmaz 1986 Züğürt Ağa (the Agha)Amansız Yol (Desperate Road)Adı Vasfiye (Her Name Is Vasfiye)Nesli ÇölgeçenÖmer KavurAtıf Yılmaz 1987 Anayurt Oteli (Motherland Hotel)Ömer Kavur 1988 Biri ve Diğerleri (One and the Others)Tunç Başaran 1989 Don't Let Them Shoot the Kite (Uçurtmayı Vurmasınlar)Tunç Başaran 1990 Karartma Geceleri (Blackout Nights)Yusuf Kurçenli 1991 Camdan Kalp (A Heart of Glass)Fehmi Yaşar 1992 Gizli Yüz (Secret Face)Ömer Kavur 1993 İki Kadın (Two Women)Yavuz Özkan 1994 Bir Sonbahar Hikâyesi (An Autumn Story)Yavuz Özkan 1995 İz (Traces)Yeşim Ustaoğlu 1996 80. Adım (The 80th Step)Tomris Giritlioğlu 1997 Akrebin Yolculuğu (Journey of the Clock-hand)Ömer Kavur 1998 Masumiyet (Innocence)Zeki Demirkubuz 1999 Güneşe Yolculuk (Journey to the Sun)Yeşim Ustaoğlu 2000 Mayıs Sıkıntısı (Clouds of May) Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2001 Dar Alanda Kısa Paslaşmalar (Offside)Herkes Kendi Evinde (Away From Home)Serdar AkarSemih Kaplanoğlu 2002 9Ümit Ünal 2003 Uzak (Distant) Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2004 Karpuz Kabuğundan Gemiler Yapmak(Boats Out of Watermelon Rinds)Ahmet Uluçay 2005 Anlat İstanbul (Istanbul Tales)Ümit Ünal, Kudret Sabancı, Selim Demirdelen, Yücel Yolcu, Ömür Atay 2006 Beş Vakit (Times and Winds)Reha Erdem 2007 İklimler (Climates)Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2008 Summer Book (Tatil Kitabı)Seyfi Teoman 2009 Men on the Bridge (Köprüdekiler)Aslı Özge 2010 VavienYağmur Taylan, Durul Taylan 2011 Saç (Hair) Tayfun Pirselimoğlu 2012 Tepenin Ardı (Beyond the Hill) Emin Alper 2013 Thou Gild'st The Even (Sen Aydınlatırsın Geceyi) Onur Ünlü 2014 Ben O Değilim (I Am Not Him) Tayfun Pirselimoğlu 2015 Cancelled 2016 Toz Bezi (Dust Cloth) Ahu Öztürk2017Sarı Sıcak (Yellow Heat) Fikret Reyhan2018Borç (Debt)Vuslat Saraçoğlu2019Kız Kardeşler (A Tale of Three Sisters)Emin Alper2020Aşk, Büyü, vs (Love, Spells and All That)Ümit Ünal2021Beni Sevenler Listesi (The List of Those Who Love Me)Emre Erdoğdu2022KlondikeMaryna Er Gorbach2023Kör Noktada (In the Blind Spot / Im toten Winkel)Ayşe Polat2024Yurt (Dormitory)Nehir Tuna
Notable visitors Notable visitors who attended the festival since 1982 include:
Larry Towell Antoine Bertrand Lars Eidinger Reinout Scholten van Aschat Vera Brandes Kerry Fox
Directors
Dag Johan Haugerud Marianna Brennand Zabou Breitman Scandar Copti Ali Asgari Bachir Bensaddek Shekhar Kapur Sofia Bohdanowicz João Canijo Alexandre O. Philippe
References
External links Official Festival Website