WELCOME TO THE FESTIVAL
The Rio's annual celebration of all things cinematically
Turkish promises seven days of movies that are entertaining,
illuminating, exciting and innovative – sometimes all
at the same time! And it's also a unique opportunity to both
meet some of today's directors, producers and stars and spot
the talents of tomorrow.
This year's Festival comes before the London Film Festival
so we are unable to preview the most prestigious success in
Turkish cinema this year, the Cannes prize winner UZAK,
but this gets a London release next year. We do, however,
have the opening night film of the recent Venice Festival
Dervis Zaim's MUD, a Turkish co-production
with Italy and Cyprus.
The international flavour of the Festival continues with
a co-production with Hungary, Yusuf Kurcenli's UNSENT
LETTERS, and Bilge Ebiri's very surreal NEW
GUY was made in America. There's even a fascinating
feature documentary on the legendary Greek director Theo Angelopoulos,
THEO'S GAZE.
But it is the already acclaimed combination of Turkish filmmaking
and German production that has created two of the Festival's
finest films: Fatih Akin's delightfully observed portrait
of family life, SOLINO, and Asli Ozge's strikingly
original LITTLE BIT OF APRIL.
Delayed international screenings of Ali Özgentürk's
BALALAYKA and Tomris Giritlioglu's MISS SALKIM'S
DIAMONDS head an outstanding collection of Turkish
productions. And of course no Festival would be complete without
the year's big box office winner and Mustafa Altioklar's HE'S
IN THE ARMY NOW entertains with a wicked mix of farce
and satire.
From short films by young local filmmakers to big budget
historical epics, there's a lot to enjoy and discover.
We hope to see you soon.
Vedide Kaymak & Charles Rubinstein.
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