International İzmir Humor Festival Begins

Organized internationally for the first time this year, the Izmir Humor Festival is hosted online. The festival, in which valuable names will participate, will last ten days.

Organized by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and to be held internationally for the first time this year, the Izmir Humor Festival will be held on December 16 at 19.00. Tube will be posted online via. Important names of the art world will participate in the festival events, which will last for ten days and will be broadcast at the same time every evening. Focusing on the theme of humor and social criticism and under the consultancy of Vecdi Sayar, the festival includes "Social Criticism and Humor in Our Cartoon", "Humor in Cinema", "Political Humor in Media", "Music and Humor", "Visual Arts and Humor", "Social Criticism in Short Films". Talks will take place in which the titles “Criticism and Humor”, “Social Criticism and Humor in World Cartoon”, “Humor from Literature to Theater” will be discussed.

World famous guests

This year, the Festival's Honor Award was given to Tan Oral, the master of Turkish cartoon art. In addition to the Tan Oral Cartoon Exhibition "İş - Aş - Eş" to be opened at the Ahmet Adnan Saygun Cultural Center, another cartoon exhibition will be organized under the curatorship of the cartoon historian Turgut Çeviker. The exhibition includes a selection dating from the 1900s to the present day. World-renowned cartoonists will meet with humor lovers at Izmir's first international humor festival. Daryl Cagle (USA), Nadia Khiari (Tunisia), Michel Kichka (Israel), Norio Yamanoi (Japan), Tjeerd Royaards (Netherlands), Damien Glez (Burkina Faso), Marilena Nardi (Italy) were the moderators of Cartoonist İzel Rozental. Names such as PLANTU (France), Thiwawat Pattaragulwanit (Thailand), Yemi Yetneberk (Ethiopia) will be guests.

Among the artists, academics and critics who participated in the interviews within the scope of the festival, Ezel Akay, Prof. Dr. Oğuz Makal, Assoc. Ragıp Ta Chess, Prof. Dr. Semih Çelenk, Orhan Alkaya, Seçkin Selvi, Eren Aysan, Serhan Bali, Cumhur Bakiskan, Murat Palta, Ali Şimşek, Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Mustafa Yıldız, Özcan Yurdalan, Cihan Demirci and viola artist Efdal Altun with his performance named “Funny” are featured. Hilmi Short Film curated the evening with Lew, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Palestine, short films will be shown from Turkey.

In memory of Aziz Nesin, Zeki Ökten and Levent Kırca

Commemoration activities for three valuable artists, Aziz Nesin, Zeki Ökten and Levent Kırca, who gave products with the theme of social criticism and humor, will also take place in the festival program. In the talk titled “Political Humor in the Media”, Oya Başar, Burhan Şeşen and Kandemir Konduk will tell about their memories of Kırca. After the screening of director Zeki Ökten's latest film, Çinliler Coming, at 19, whose death anniversary will be commemorated on December 17.00, Ökten's close friend Rutkay Aziz, screenwriter Fatih Altınöz and assistant director Mehmet Ulukan will attend the talk at 19.00.

On the evening of Aziz Nesin's 105th birthday, on the evening of December 20, Aziz Nesin's son Ali Nesin from the Mathematics Village in Şirince, close friends of Aziz Nesin and the theater actors Ataol Behramoğlu, Müjdat Gezen, Genco Erkal from Istanbul, Yücel Erten will join the program from Cyprus.

Festival program:

Wednesday, December 16

• 19.00 Exhibitions (online presentation):
• * Respect to the Master: Tan Oral "Job - Over - Spouse"
• * "Social Criticism and Humor in Our Cartoon" / Curator: Turgut Çeviker
• Interview: Tan Oral, Turgut Çeviker
• Tan Oral's short animated movie "Censorship"

Thursday, December 17

• 17.00 Film: "Why Was Hacivat Karagöz Killed?" / Ezel Akay
• 19.00 "Humor in Cinema"
• Interview: Ezel Akay, Prof. Oğuz Makal, Assoc. Dr. Ragip Taranch

Friday, December 18

• "We commemorate Levent Kırca - Political Humor in the Media"
• 19.00 Conversation: Oya Başar, Cihan Demirci, Kandemir Konduk, Burhan Şeşen

19 December Saturday

• "We Commemorate Zeki Ökten on the anniversary of his death"
• 17.00 Movie: "The Chinese Are Coming" / Zeki Ökten
• 19.00 Conversation: Fatih Altınöz, Rutkay Aziz, Mehmet Ulukan

20 December Sunday

• "We commemorate Aziz Nesin master on his 105th birthday"
• 19.00 Conversation: Ataol Behramoğlu, Genco Erkal, Yücel Erten, Müjdat Gezen, Ali Nesin

Monday, December 21

• "Music and Humor"
• 19.00 Lecture: Efdal Altun, Cumhur Perspective, Serhan Bali
• "KomiKlasik" with viola artist Efdal Altun

Tuesday, December 22

• "Visual Arts and Humor"
• 19.00 Lecture: Murat Palta, Ali Şimşek, Erdil Yaşaroğlu, Mustafa Yıldız, Özcan Yurdalan

Wednesday, December 23

• 19.00 "Social Criticism and Humor in Short Film with Hilmi Etikan"
• Germany, France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Palestine and short films from Turkey

Thursday, December 24

• "Social Criticism and Humor in World Cartoon"
• 19.00 Talk: Daryl Cagle (USA), Nadia Khiari (Tunisia), Michel Kichka (Israel)
• Norio Yamanoi (Japan), Tjeerd Royaards (Netherlands), Damien Glez
• (Burkina Faso), Marilena Nardi (Italy), PLANTU (France)
• Mor Thiwawat Pattaragulwanit (Thailand), Yemi Yetneberk (Ethiopia)
• Moderator: İzel Rozental

Friday, December 25

• "Humor From Literature to Theater"
• 19.00 Conversation: Orhan Alkaya, Eren Aysan, Semih Çelenk, Seçkin Selvi