37TH Istanbul Film Festival to start in April

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), and sponsored by Vodafone Red, Turkey’s biggest international cinema event Istanbul Film Festival is preparing to meet cinema lovers for the 37th time. The 37th Istanbul Film Festival, with a programme comprising highlights from Turkey and world cinema will take place between 6 and 17 April.

The Istanbul Film Festival presents a rich programme in its 37th edition that ranges from the latest productions of world cinema to cult films, to the latest titles from Turkey and classics alike, new discoveries, masterpieces, and hidden treasures. The festival hosts 198 feature films, as well as 12 short films, in 18 different categories, and in addition to the screening of a total of 210 films by 218 directors from 43 countries, there will be Q&As and festival talks with guest filmmakers, concerts, and other special events.

The press conference of the 37th Istanbul Film Festival was held on Wednesday, 14 March at The Marmara Hotel Taksim, the Official Hotel Sponsor of İKSV.

In his opening speech, İKSV General Director Görgün Taner said: “The Istanbul Film Festival is an event that is unified with its audience and the city, with significant contributions to the nurturing of a generation of filmmakers and film audience. We believe the meticulously curated sections and sophisticated selection of the festival will expand the intellectual horizons of many more filmmakers and film lovers. We would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters, especially the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, for their contributions and this year’s Festival Sponsor, Vodafone Red. We would also like to thank our valuable press members for their efforts in the announcement of our festival.”

Speaking for Vodafone Red, the sponsor of 37th Istanbul Film Festival, Consumer Business Unit Director of Vodafone Turkey Engin Aksoy said: “As Vodafone Red, we are happy to sponsor Turkey’s most comprehensive and largest film festival, the 37th Istanbul Film Festival. We value digitalisation of the screen arts including cinema. We aim at extending the reach of the Film Festival with our digital setups and means. We will enable the whole nation to monitor most of the festival events through digital media. We will organise a digital cinema session and Virtual Reality previews for the first time in Turkey. We believe that providing cinema lovers with the opportunity to access the festival content also on digital platforms will be exciting.” Speaking after Aksoy, Head of Brand and Marketing Strategy of Vodafone Turkey Ebru Özgüç shared details about the technological innovations that Vodafone Red will bring to the festival.

Istanbul Film Festival Director Kerem Ayan, introducing the 37th edition of the festival and its programme, later unveiled the films to vie in the International Competition, Human Rights in Cinema Competition, National Competition, National Documentary Competition and the National Short Film Competition.

Head of Meetings on the Bridge, Gülin Üstün, revealed further information about the 13th edition of the Meetings on the Bridge, the co-production platform of the Istanbul Film Festival, which brings filmmakers, directors and scriptwriters from Turkey and the neighbouring countries together with professionals from the international film industry.

The collaboration of the Istanbul Film Festival and Vodafone Red ensures that the festival reaches a wider audience with technological innovations this year. Many events of the 37th Istanbul Film Festival such as the opening ceremony, red carpet and award ceremony can be watched live. Also, the festival talks, and selected interviews with national and international guests, to be held at the festival centre, Yapı Kredi Culture Centre, will be followed digitally. Film lovers not only from Istanbul, but also from all over Turkey, will enjoy watching films on digital sessions that will be announced their times and programmes by the festival for the first time.

This year will also see the Virtual Reality (VR) experiences to be featured for the first time at the festival thanks to the collaboration of Istanbul Film Festival and Vodafone Red. VR experiences, which take place in major festival programs abroad, will offer interactive experiences to the followers of the Istanbul Film Festival through special virtual glasses.

The 37th Istanbul Film Festival films will be screened at nine movie theatres: Atlas (two halls) and Beyoğlu movie theatres, as well as Pera Museum Auditorium in Beyoğlu district, Cinemaximum City’s Nişantaşı (two halls), Cinemaximum Zorlu Center in Gayrettepe, Rexx and Kadıköy movie theatres in Kadıköy.

The screenings will be at 11.00, 13.30, 16.00, 19.00 and 21.30.

The festival’s gift to students prevails this year: with the support of the patrons, student tickets for 11.00, 13.30 and 16.00 screenings on weekdays will be sold for 1 TL.

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