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FESTIVALS Turkey

Istanbul looks to Europe

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The 26th edition of the Istanbul Film Festival begins tomorrow, March 31, and for the first time in its history will be opened with the screening of a film by a Turkish filmmaker, Saturno Contro by Ferzan Özpetek, who is also this year’s jury president.

Of the 19 films vying for the Golden Tulip, many are European, including Gianni Amelio’s The Missing Star [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, the multiple award-winning Lady Chatterley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Pascale Ferran, Kenneth Branagh’s The Magic Flute [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Joachim Trier’s Reprise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
interview: Karin Julsrud
film profile
]
and two Turkish films, International (Beynelmilel) by Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Muharrem Gülme and Waiting for Heaven (Cenneti Beklerken) by Derviş Zaim.

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Other collateral sections are on Turkish cinema, Russian cinema, "From the Mediterranean to Caucasia", documentaries, and the films of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

The film industry of the country awaiting entry into the European Union seems to be in good health: 35m admissions were registered in 2006, while 25 domestic films were produced in 2005, 33 in 2006 and this year there should be over 60.

According to young festival director Azize Tan, "Since the coup in 1980, it’s taken years for domestic cinema to revive, with a new generation of directors – Nuri Bilge Çeylan, Zeki Demirkubuz, Derviş Zaim and Yeşim Ustaoğlu – who have introduced a new way of filmmaking and have succeeded in attaining attention abroad. This gave many people the possibility to see a future in film, also encouraging commercial production".

She continues: "Even the government has committed to aiding cinema, passing new laws. I think that broadcasters can also play an important role in stimulating the film industry, not limiting itself to only acquiring finished product. They have shown an increasing interest in investing in production".

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(Translated from Italian)

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