Only a few days left until the festival opens this year’s edition with Bosnian director Danis Tanovic’s film “Not So Friendly Neighborhood Affair”, which had its world premiere at the 27^th Sarajevo Film Festival. The film has attracted great attention with its topic, and will have its Turkish premiere after the opening ceremony with the participation of the director Danis Tanovic.

Ten Films Will Compete For The “Golden Dolphin” At The National Feature Competition

Films selected for the National Feature Competition to be presented in front of the jury consisting of Çiğdem Vitrinel, Erdem Tepegöz, Vildan Atasever and Gökhan Atılmış, headed by the Jury President Reis Çelik are Emre Kayiş’s “Anatolian Leopard”, Semih Kaplanoğlu’s “Commitment Hasan”, Sinan Sertel’s “The Hero In Me”, Selman Nacar’s “Between Two Dawns”, Cemil Ağacıkoğlu’s “The Cage”, Erkan Tahhuşoğlu’s “Corridor”, Muhammet Çakıral’s “Dark Blue Night”, Ferit Karahan’s “Brother’s Keeper”, Ahmet Toklu’s “The Hoop” and Aydın Orak’s “Time of Impatience”.

The Hoop and Time of Impatience will have their Turkish premiere at the festival’s National Feature Competition, while Anatolian Leopard, Commitment Hasan, The Hero In Me, Between Two Dawns, The Cage, Corridor, Dark Blue Night and Brother’s Keeper will have their first screenings in Istanbul.

Anatolian Leopard, Between Two Dawns and The Hoop will be competing for the Best Debut award with the contributions of Akli Film given for the first time this year to support filmmakers in the beginning of their careers and their new films.

One film in the National Feature Competition will be given the FIYAB Best Producer award from Film Producers’ Professional Association (FIYAB) by producers and directors Cafer Özgül, Seyid Çolak and Yiğit Nalçacı, one director will receive the FİLM – YÖN Best Director award in the National Feature Competition from the Turkish Film Directors’ Association by the jury members consisting of Orçun Benli, Hüseyin Karabey and Atalay Taşdiken.

Ten Films Will Compete For The “Golden Dolphin” At The International Feature Competition

Films selected for International Feature Competition to be presented in front of the jury consisting of Anne Delseth, Kamyar Mohsenin, Hilal Baydarov, Svetla Tsotsorkova and Yoshi Yatabe are  Juja Dobrachkous’s “Bebia, My Only Desire”, Susana Nobre’s “Jack’s Ride”, Isabel Lamberti’s “Last Days Of Spring”, Shujun’s “Ripples Of Life”, Han Shuai’s “Summer Blur”, Kiro Russo’s “The Great Movement”, Ahmet Toklu’s “The Hoop”, Chema Garcia Ibarra’s “The Sacred Spirit” Cristina Grosan’s “Things Worth Weeping For” and Hajni Kis’s “Wild Roots”.

Films In The National And International Short Fiction Competition

Films selected for the National Short Fiction Competition to be presented in front of the jury consisting of Eylem Kaftan, Mahdi Fleifel, and Murat Uğurlu are Arda Ekşigil’s “The Diamond Sea”, Nuri Cihan Özdoğan’s “Same Night Different Blue”, Recep Bozgöz’s “Don’t Be Afraid of Me”, Belkıs Bayrak’s “Cemile” Ramin Matin’s “Dissonance”, Abdullah Şahin’s “Lifeline”, Elif Eda Karagöz’s “Jülide”, Merve Bozcu’s “Plastic Dream”, Adar Baran Değer’s “The Cold” and Emir Külal Haznevi’s “High Altitude or Awkwardness of the Things”, and the International Short Fiction Competition Films are Mehdi Fikri’s “4AM”, Samir Karahoda’s “Displaced”, Luo Runxiao’s “Hair Tie, Egg and Homework Books”, Yuan Yuan’s “Heading South”, Pom Bumsermvicha’s “Lemongrass Girl”, Leonardo Martinelli’s “Neon Phantom”, Linhan Zhang’s “The Last Ferry From Grass Island”, Teymur Hajiyev’s “Towards Evening” , Rakan Mayasi’s “Trumpets In The Sky” and Andreea Cristina Bortun’s “When Night Meets Dawn”.

Films In The National And International Short Documentary Competition

Films selected for the National Short Documentary Competition to be presented in front of the jury consisting of Armin Hadzic, Diana Ashimova and Ensar Altay are; Enis Manaz’s “Abella's Journey”, Seyithan Kartal’s “The Clay”, Mehmet Emre Gül’s “The Remaining”, Mehmet Köprü’s “Seeds of Goca Yoruk”, Yunus Tuncer and Nesli Özalp Tuncer’s “Ederlezi: Spring Comes to The Neighborhood”, Nuray Kayacan Sünbül’s “The Bishwa Ijtema”, Zuhal Kaya’s “Person and Space” and Mehmet Akif Güler’s “The Last Photo”, and the International Short Documentary Competition Films are; Ben Donateo’s “Burnt. Land of Fire”, Anna Artemyeva’s “Don't Hesitate to Come For a Visit, Mom”, José Magro’s “Nha Sunhu”, Dorota Migas-Mazur’s “Raisa”, Luigjina Shkupa’s “Sigurimi”, Maria Semenova’s “The City Of The Sun”, Fariz Ahmedov’s “The Last One”, Gailė Garnelytė’s “The Robot and The Butterfly” Katarzyna Warzecha’s “We Have One Heart” and Katarina Jazbec’s “You Can't Automate Me”.

Eight Projects Will Be Competing In This Year’s Pitching Platform

Projects selected this year to be presented in front of the jury consisting of Georges Goldenstern, Kamila Morgisz and Faruk Güven are directors Mehmet Atan, Yunus Emre Özdemir and producer Ahmet Edebali’s film “Esma'dan Sonra”, director Hikmet Kerem Özcan and producer Öykü Canlı’s film “Hakkı”, director Murat Pay and producer Betül Demir’s film “Hayal Kuşu”, director Mustafa Kara and producer Olena Yershova’s film “Mevsimlerin Ardından”, director Doğuş Algün and producer Burak Kaplan’s film “Ölü Mevsim”, director Eyüp Boz and producer İffet Eren Danışman Boz’s film “Orhan Usta”, director and producer Halit Eke’s film “Paryalar İçin Bel Kanto” and director Kerem Kuşçu and producer Nermin Aytekin’s film “Yaz Işığı”.

Six Projects Will Be Competing In This Year’s Work in Progress Platform

Projects selected for this year’s Work in Progress Platform to be presented in front of the jury consisting of Elma Tataragic, Aiste Račaitytė and Serdar Can are director Orkun Göntem and producer Tanay Abbasoğlu’s film “Arka Beşli”, director Orçun Köksal and producers Alara Hamamcıoğlu, Arda Çiltepe, Sinan Kesova’s film “Bars”, director Bekir Bülbül and producer Halil Kardaş’s film “Bir Tutam Karanfil”, director Ceren Şahan and producer Dilek Iris’s film “İç Bahçe”, director Ümran Safter and producer Suraj Sharma’s film “Kabahat” and director Emre Konuk and producer Uğur Veli’s film “Tahta Kılıç”.

Two Projects Have Been Selected For First Cut Lab

Projects taking place in First Cut Lab, which is designed as an editing workshop to develop feature film projects in the editing stage in international standards accompanied by consultants and will be held as part of the Bosphorus Film Lab, are director Mesut Keklik and producer Burak Yavuz’s film “Bölge” and Maryna Er Gorbach and producers Mehmet Bahadır Er, Sviatoslav Bulakovskyi’s film “Klondike”.

The team lead by First Cut Lab’s director Matthieu Darras consist of First Cut Lab’s editing consultant Benjamin Mirguet, Cairo Film Connection director Chadi Zeneddine, producer Marija Razgute and First Cut Plus director Ilaria Gomarasca.

Danis Tanovic and Carlos Reygadas Are Coming To Istanbul

Bringing together cinemagoers in Istanbul with the latest examples of Turkish and world cinema, the honorary guests this year are Bosnian director Danis Tanovic and Mexican director Carlos Reygadas.

The Oscar winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic will meet with cinemagoers on Sunday 24th October for a masterclass event. The highly acclaimed director will meet with cinemagoers at the Atlas 1948 Cinema at 2 p.m. and talk about the knowledge and experience he gained with his films from 2001 until today. Carlos Reygadas will meet with cinemagoers on Friday 29th October for a masterclass event. The event will take place at the Atlas 1948 Cinema starting at 6:30 p.m.

Participation for Danis Tanovic and Carlos Reygadas’s masterclass events could be made by filling in the submission form on www.bogazicifilmfestivali.com .

Bosphorus Film Lab Excites With Its Events

The industry department of the festival, Bosphorus Film Lab, will bring together professionals and participants to discuss the industries’ important and latest topics in a series of events. Bosphorus Film Lab will provide space for an effective festival bringing together the national and international guests in Istanbul.

On 24-29 October, important topics about the sector will be addressed in the events bringing together the national and international guests here in Istanbul.

Within the scope of Bosphorus Film Lab Talks, the event “Making a Debut Feature Film” will take place with Selcen Ergun, the director of Snow and the Bear, and its producer Nefes Polat on Monday 25th October. The event will be held at Akademi Beyoğlu Conference Hall starting at 3:30 p.m. with the director Selcen Ergun and the producer Nefes Polat of the film, sharing a debut film’s production process and their experiences. Participation will be limited and free of charge for the “Making a Debut Feature Film” event. Submissions will be made on https://forms.gle/ekkMu5eKt6PeuvSY8 .

Another event within the scope of Bosphorus Film Lab will be “Minority Co-Productions In Turkey” on Tuesday 26th October at 3:30 p.m. The event will be held at Akademi Beyoğlu Conference Hall with the participation of TRT Cinema Manager Faruk Güven, Eurimages Turkey Representative Ece Tarlan and producers Enes Erbay and Zeynep Koray, who will share their knowledge on film production funds for minority co-productions in Turkey. Participation will be limited and free of charge for the “Minority Co-Productions In Turkey” event. Submissions will be made on https://forms.gle/gXRhX7hs32qQF5c96 .

“We have been bearing the responsibility for making a film festival available for filmmakers while sustaining certain standards.” Festival President Ogün Şanlıer

Expressing that they are very much honoured to host in Istanbul those distinguished filmmakers of both our national cinema and international circles, Festival President Ogün Şanlıer stated that they bore the responsibility and the pressure carried with it for making a film festival available for the filmmakers thoroughly and in compliance while sustaining certain standards, and despite all this, they are bringing the joy of the Bosphorus Film Festival off this year as well with the support of the industry and their audience along with the contribution of their official partners and festival sponsors.

With the contribution of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism Cinema General Directorate, official partnership of TRT, support of Global Communications Partner Anadolu Agency, official hosting of Beyoğlu Municipality and organized by the Bosphorus Culture and Arts Foundation, the 9^th Bosphorus Film Festival will be hosting significant names in the sector alongside internationally acclaimed professionals. Details and inquires on films, events and screenings could be reached on www.bogazicifilmfestivali.com and social media accounts.

Tickets Are On Sale On Mobilet

Screenings of the 7-day Bosphorus Film Festival will be held at Atlas 1948 and Kadıköy cinemas.

Festival tickets for 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. screenings are 10 TL, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. screenings are 15 TL. Short film screenings are 5 TL. Tickets could be purchased on mobilet.com and at the box office at Atlas 1948 and Kadıköy cinemas.

Important Notice on Covid-19 Restrictions

As of September 6, 2021 Monday entries into events including concerts, cinemas, theaters, and crowded events will require a negative PCR test taken 48 hours prior to the event for persons who are unvaccinated. Managers/organizers will be required to examine HES code for vaccination/contracted disease (scientifically accepted post-Covid­19 immunity period) or a negative PCR test taken 48 hours prior to the event at the entrance. According to the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health regulations, persons who have completed their final vaccinations in accordance with the vaccine schedule could attend events as of the 14^th day of their final vaccination without taking a PCR test, those who have had Covid-19 could attend events in the following 180 days after their isolation process has ended without taking a PCR test. Those who have not had Covid-19 or vaccinations or a negative PCR test will not be allowed to participate in events.