The revamped Istanbul Film Festival‘s Meetings on the Bridge co-production platform wrapped Thursday with a host of standout Turkish projects in various stages scoring prizes and drawing interest from international industry executives from 31 countries.
Now at its 21st edition, the April 12-14 Istanbul industry event open to international co-productions in which Turkey participates as either a minority or majority co-producer, is being relaunched under the new leadership of former Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival Başak Emre and Pınar Evrenosoğlu.
Besides luring a robust representation of producers, sales agents, and festival programmers – mostly from European countries, but also including the U.S., India, and, interestingly, Iran – this year’s Meetings on the Bridge also featured a series of top notch panels. They included one on the intricacies of Turkish co-productions with Germany, which is Turkey’s main co-prod partner; and another titled “Studio Journey with Netflix” at which the streaming giant’s head of Turkish productions Pelin Ekinci Kaya drilled down on real case studies of Netflix’s prolific Turkish originals output.
In terms of projects, one notable title in the film development platform selection – that was evaluated by Locarno Pro Industry Manager Daria Voumard, Arte France Cinema Selection Committee Member Gilles Duval, and Turkish filmmaker Tarık Aktaş – is “Huckster” a first feature by Arin İnan Arslan set in Anatolia’s Munzur mountails where a travelling salesman takes on a job that leads to “profit and death” travelling together in the back of his pickup truck.
Another first feature in development that drew notice is “Leviathan” by Onur Sefer about a village mayor and former corporate big shot named Sıla who is fighting to protect a cove on the Aegean coast from a luxury hotel development.
The work-in-progress section, evaluated by Germany’s Picture Tree International exec Stella Wejchert, Sundance Film Festival Programmer Sudeep Sharma, and Turkish director Tolga Karaçelik, awarded a top prize to first-timer Evrim Kaya’s “Other Seasons of Hakkari” which revisits the Kurdish village where a Turkish classic titled “A Season in Hakkari” – that won the Berlin Silver Bear in 1983 – was shot, forty-four years later and discovers a “devastating truth.” Another award in this section went to “Stratum,” a drama exploring the boundaries between economic potential and geopolitical exploitation directed by Daniel Kötter and Marko Grba Singh.
The 45th edition of the Istanbul Film Festival wraps on Sunday.
FILM DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM AWARDS
Meetings on the Bridge Award
“Huckster” – Director Arin İnan Arslan; Producer Arin İnan Arslan, Co-producer Nesra Gürbüz
Mattepost Post-Production Award
“Huckster” – Director Arin İnan Arslan, Producer Arin İnan Arslan, Co-producer Nesra Gürbüz
Melodika Sound Award
“The Ones Who Move Slowly” – Director Dilşad Aladağ, Producer İpek Erden, Co-producer Burak Çevik
Filmarka Equipment Award
“Apollo Island” – Director Barış Sarhan, Producers: Umut Eğitimci, Barış Sarhan, Tolga Topçu
Work in Progress Platform Awards
Anadolu Efes Award
“Other Seasons of Hakkari” – Director Evrim Kaya, Producers Evrim Kaya, Sevim Sancaktar
Netflix Film Support Award
“Stratum” – Directors: Daniel Kötter, Marko Grba Singh, Producer Jelena Angelovski, Co-producers Burak Çevik, Eroll Bilibani, Veton Nurkollari
Postgarden Colour Award
“Seeds of the Same Pomegranate” – Director Şeyla Korkut, Producer Ines Asatryan
Fata Morgana Trailer Award
“Dancing Angels” – Director Ferit Kılıç Producers Diloy Gülün, Sena Tonguç, Beste Yamalıoğlu, Co-producer Suat Sağlam
Short Film Workshop Awards
Cupra Short Film Award
“My Mother, Before Me” – Director Aslı Ekici, Producer Yağmur Dolkun
Lumix Pro Support Award
“Mother Will Dad Be Angry With Me?” – Director Selin Aktaş Eyüboğlu, Producers Esin Özalp Öztürk, Rıfat Erkek, Emre Pekçakır, Onur Hakkı Eyüboğlu, Co-producer Selin Aktaş Eyüboğlu
Road to Clermont Participation Award
“My Mother, Before Me” – Director Aslı Ekici, Producer Yağmur Dolkun
Square Eyes Counselling Award
“Orlando” – Director Halime Usta, Producer Vildan Erşen
Special Awards
Türker İnanoğlu Debut Film Encouragement Award
“This Is It, The Apocalypse” – Director Balahan Gürel, Producers Aysun Karaman, Okan Üzey, Co-producers Çağdaş Malay, Solal Coutard
Breaking into the Industry: Mentorship Program for Aspiring Producers Award
Sığla Ünal
International Screen Institute Award
“Leviathan” – Director Onur Sefer, Producer Sinem Kanat
Midpoint Consulting Award
“Leviathan” – Director Onur Sefer, Producer Sinem Kanat
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