Forever-Forever, directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Anna Buryachkova, was awarded the Golden Tulip for best film, as well as the FIPRESCI prize in the International Competition, at this year’s Istanbul Film Festival, which took place April 17-28.
Set in 1990s Kyiv, the story follows a teenage girl navigating friendship and romance amid the ruins of the Soviet regime. The jury noted that the film “speaks in an innovative way about young sexuality, violence, abuse and the definition of female roles in an Eastern European patriarchal society facing wild capitalism.”
Ena Sendijarević’s Dutch-Swedish drama Sweet Dreams, set on a plantation in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial era, was awarded the Special Jury Prize, while UK filmmaker Luna Carmoon’s debut feature Hoard won the Young Master Award (see full list of winners below).
In the National Competition, Nehir Tuna’s Dormitory won the Golden Tulip for best film as well as best cinematography. The black-and-white film, which premiered in the Orizzonti section of last year’s Venice film festival, follows a teenage boy who is sent to an Islamic dormitory (known as a Yurt) to learn Muslim values.
Vuslat Saraçoğlu’s Not What You Think was a multiple prize winner in the National Competition, taking the Special Jury Prize, best screenplay, best actor (jointly for Alican Yücesoy and Serdar Orçin) and best editing. Hestiation Wound was awarded best director for Selman Nacar and best actress for Tülin Özen.
Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), Istanbul film festival screened 51 films in the international and national competitions of the festival.
Istanbul film festival also host a projects market, Meetings On The Bridge (April 24-26), which selected four documentaries, 13 feature films, six series and seven short film projects. Winning projects included Morteza Atabaki’s 32 Meters, which took the Anadolu Efes Award in the Works-in-Progress section.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION:
Golden Tulip Best Film:
[in memory of Şakir Eczacıbaşı]
Forever-Forever – dir: Anna Buryachkova (Ukraine, Netherlands)
Special Jury Prize:
Sweet Dreams – dir: Ena Sendijarević (Netherlands, France, Indonesia, Sweden)
Young Master Award: Hoard – dir: Luna Carmoon (UK)
Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize:
Best Debut Film – The Grand Siege, dir: Sinan Kesova
Special Mention – Inpaintings, dir: Ozan Yoleri
FIPRESCI:
International Competition: Forever-Forever – dir: Anna Buryachkova (Ukraine, Netherlands)
National Competition: Hesitation Wound – dir: Selman Nacar
National Short Film Competition: Children Of The White Mountain – dir: Yalçın Çiftçi
NATIONAL COMPETITION:
Golden Tulip Best Film:
Dormitory, dir: Nehir Tuna
Kariyo & Ababay Foundation Special Jury Prize:
[in memory of Onat Kutlar]
Not What You Think, dir: Vuslat Saraçoğlu
Best Director: Hesitation Wound – Selman Nacar
Best Screenplay: Not What You Think – Vuslat Saraçoğlu
Best Actor: Not What You Think – Alican Yücesoy & Serdar Orçin
Best Actress: Hesitation Wound – Tülin Özen
Best Cinematographer: Dormitory – Florent Herry
Best Original Music: The Reeds – Doğan Duru
Best Editing: Not What You Think – Naim Kanat
Best Art Director: Belonging – Nadide Argun van Uden
NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:
Best Documentary: Hold Still – dir: Berke Baş
Special Mention: Tomato, Pepper, Depression – dir: Aybüke Avcı
NATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION:
Best Short Film: Minus One – dir: Ömer Ferhat Özmen
Special Mention: Between Delicate And Violent – dir: Şirin Bahar Demirel