Dedicated to showcasing the best in contemporary film, since 2001
Istanbul International Independent Film Festival (
!f) runs every February and March in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, hosting film buffs and celebrated filmmakers from around the world. Perceiving the shared experience of cinema as a form of activism that has the power to connect people across borders,
!f curates and bases its thematic sections in order to reflect issues that are gripping the world΄s - and filmmakers΄- imagination. Moreover, through
!f ², a ground-breaking alternative film distribution and sharing project, the festival will travel to more than
30 cities in Turkey and neighbouring countries.
In 2008, !f launched an international film competition - !f Inspired- for emerging and innovative directors. The competition carries a $15,000 prize for the Most Inspired Director. Love & Change section, the festival’s other competition programme, started in 2014 as an international platform for films and filmmakers who look at the world through critical eyes and with soft hearts. Love & Change awards a prize of $10,000.
This year,
!f’s 14th edition will open with Tim Burton’s latest hit,
Big Eyes and it has prepared a really interesting programme. Starting with the festival’s most glamorous section,
Digiturk Galas will host some of the year’s most anticipated films, including multi-awarded
Birdman,
Love is Strange, a French/American drama directed by Ira Sachs, Joshua Oppenheimer’s Venice awarded documentary
The Look of Silence (produced by Werner Herzog) and
Tusk, a comedy horror film, directed by Kevin Smith and starring Johnny Depp. In this section we also find the film
Drawers by
M. Caner Alper &
Mehmet Binay, a 2015 Turkish production.
Drawers by M. Caner Alper & Mehmet Binay
Going to the two
International Competition sections, the
!f Inspired programme has included
Yannis Veslemes’ futuristic
Norway (Greece, 2014) and
Spirit of Dust, a 2014 Turkish drama directed by
Nesimi Yetik, while the
Love & Change programme will be screening -among others- Jessica Oreck’s multinational production (including Romania)
The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga.
The Home section is comprised of independent documentaries from Turkey and neighbouring countries, as well as international ones. The programme will include the following four Turkish productions and co-productions:
Spirit of Dust by Nesimi Yetik
!f 2015 will also see the return of long-standing favorite, such as
!f Music which brings music to cinema and cinema to the stage while energizing Istanbul’s nightlife with parties.
Anadolu Break by
Taylan Mutaf &
Uluç Keçik (Turkey, 2014) is the only Balkan film in the programme, while,
Cem Kaya’s multi-travelled
Remake, Remix, Rip-Off will be screened at the
Art & Life section, which presents feature films and documentaries showing the exchange that happens when art and human meet.
Another Turkish feature film, the dark and humorous
OHA: In Search of Oflu Hodja by
Levent Soyarslan (Turkey, 2014) is included this time at the
Play section, where the experimental and the fantastical cinema meet and offer unique cult moments, similar to those the other genre sections of the festival will do, like the
Dark & Edgy, the
!f Cult, the
Special Screenings and the
Saints, Poets and Fools categories. !f 2015 is also screening some 18 Turkish shorts in the three different programmes of the
!f Shorts section.
We shouldn’t forget to mention the screening (with great pride) of a restored copy of Sergei Parajanov’s 1968 classic Colour of Pomegranates, a film-inspiration to a range of contemporary artists.
Istanbul International Independent Film Festival 2015 will run from February 12 to 22 (Istanbul), followed by Ankara and Izmir, between February 26 to March the 1st, 2015.