Organized by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, the 3rd Izmir International Film and Music Festival will start on June 16 with a ceremony at the Alhambra Art Center. President, who held a press conference for the festival where 7 films will be screened in 100 venues. Tunç Soyer“We have great ambition and excitement. İzmir has gained a very important brand and will carry this brand with its merits.”
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyerheld a press conference as part of the 16rd Izmir International Film and Music Festival, which will begin on June 3. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Ertuğrul Tugay, İZFAŞ General Manager Canan Karaosmanoğlu Buyer, Festival Director Director Vecdi Sayar attended the press conference of the 3rd İzmir International Film and Music Festival, which will be organized by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality in cooperation with İZFAŞ, İZELMAN and Intercultural Art Association.
The President gave information about the program of the festival, which will start with the opening ceremony at the Alhambra Art Center on June 16. Tunç Soyer“If we think about which language is the most spoken in the world, no matter what you say in English or Spanish, the most spoken language is actually music. A universal language emerges with 7 notes. When this language introduces itself to cinema, its power and influence increases.”
Our ambition and excitement is great
President Soyer, who thanked the director Vecdi Sayar, who created the first Izmir International Film and Music Festival three years ago, said, “You cannot imagine cinema without music. That's why this job is so valuable. When we took office, we wanted İzmir to be a city that hosts art. That's why we started by establishing a Cinema Office. Cinema Office has now become an institution accepted as a competent authority in İzmir. It formed the basis for İzmir to host the cinema sector in the future. What we will do will not be limited to the cinema office or festivals. İzmir has the power to host the sector. That's why we have great ambition and excitement. This festival will become one of the important brands of İzmir. In this journey, which has been walked with small steps for three years, our horizons are actually expanding a little more. I know that we will experience much better ones in the coming years. İzmir has gained a very important brand and will carry this brand with its worth. Many thanks to our sponsors. Despite the situation in Turkey, we did not give up. We will organize our festival by mobilizing all our resources,” he said.
It is very important for our city.
Underlining that the 3rd Izmir International Film and Music Festival is among the important festivals not only in Turkey but also in the world, Festival Director Vecdi Sayar said, “We are organizing a thematic festival, a festival specializing in a certain field. There are festivals in other cities in our country, but it is not enough to organize the festival, so it is important that the program is a festival that strengthens its relationship with the city. It is very important for our city that the press of İzmir embraces the festival. We are one of the 3-4 festivals in Turkey. There are nearly ten episodes in the program this year. The most important movies of the year are overlooked. We put these selections under the title of world festivals. We also prepared a good compilation on immigration and immigration issues this year. Spectators will be able to watch the screenings free of charge in all halls. In addition, there will be open-air cinema screenings on the Kadifekale ship, which docked at Göztepe Ferry Terminal.
The Country Trilogy Jazz Project will make its world premiere
At the opening ceremony of the 3rd Izmir International Film and Music Festival to be held at the historical Alhambra Theater, the Country Trilogy Jazz Project, consisting of jazz pieces composed on 11 scenes carefully selected from the films of the Golden Palm-winning master director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Town, May Trouble and Distant, will be presented to the world. will premiere. In the concert, the composer of the project, pianist Yiğit Özatalay, will be accompanied by Barış Ertürk on the saxophone and Mustafa Kemal Emirel on the drums.
Under the direction of Vecdi Sayar, the festival, which will be held with the support of İstinye Park Teras, Özgörkey Otomotiv, UNDP, Grand Plaza, Bahçeşehir University Cartoon and Animation Department, French, Italian, German, Hungarian and Swedish consulates and cultural centers, will feature 100 feature films, 20 short feature films. After the screenings, there are question-and-answer sessions, concerts, a record recital and interviews with masters.
10 films will compete for Crystal Flamingo
This year, the festival adds the international competition to the excitement of the national competition, where 10 films will compete and Crystal Flamingos will find their owners in different branches. The International Competition selection consists of productions that focus on the world of music and dance and the lives of musicians, or where music is at the forefront of the film.
The 3rd İzmir International Film and Music Festival National Competition jury will be chaired by Zuhal Olcay, while Mehmet Açar, Mehmet Can Özer, Murat Kılıç, Vedat Sakman, Vuslat Saraçoğlu and Zeynep Ünal will serve as jury members.
The 10 films that will compete for Kristal Flamingo at the festival this year are as follows: Ayna Ayna (Belmin Söylemez), Bars (Orçun Köksal), The Life of a Snowflake (Kazim Öz), Iguana Tokyo (Kaan Müjdeci), Kabahat (Ümran Safter), Snow and Bear ( Selcen Ergun), Dark Night (Özcan Alper), On My Way (Ömer Faruk Sorak), In The Blind Spot (Ayşe Polat), Suna (Çiğdem Sezgin).
There are 10 films in the international competition
Hungarian director Krisztina Goda is the head of the International Competition jury, while the other jury members are Alexandra Enberg, Pelin Batu and Serdar Kökçeoğlu. Within the scope of the International Competition, there are 10 films from different countries of the world, from France to Argentina, from Australia to Pakistan, from the Netherlands to Georgia.
The competing films are: Carmen (Benjamin Millepied / Australia France), Let The Dance Begin (Empieza el Baile, Marina Seresesky / Argentina, Spain) Drummer (Drameri, Kote Kalandadze / Georgia) Divertimento (Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar / France) Heart by Tribal Galaxy (Omar Safa Umar / Turkey), Joyland (Saim Sadiq / Pakistan, USA) Kapr Code / Lucie Kralova / Czechia, Slovakia) Habiszti -Because! ( Habiszti – Csak ezert Is!, György Dobray / Hungary) Gold of the Rhine (Rheingold, Fatih Akın / Germany) Terezin (Gabriele Guidi / Italy, Czechia, Slovakia).
Between the devil and the deep sea
Apart from the competition films, the highly anticipated productions will meet with moviegoers in the Stars of Music, World Festivals, Following Music, The Rhythm of Life, Colorful Dreams, and Out of Competition Special Screenings. The 10 finalist films of the Music-Themed Short Film Project Competition held last year will be screened in the section titled Music in Brief.
One of the special parts of the festival this year will be at Two in One Dere. In the section, which consists of films dealing with migration and immigration problems, a conversation will be held in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
They will be remembered for their films
In the Memoirs section, the master names we lost will be remembered with their films. Director Erden Kıral, who was the head of the jury of the festival's National Competition last year, composer Sarper Özsan, who is known for the music he made for the May Day March and important films, the Izmir artist Dario Moreno, who is known for his life story such as his records, films and films, the great composer Vangelis, who passed away the previous year, and more. Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away a few months ago, will be commemorated at the festival with the screenings of his films.
In Respect to the Master, three masterpieces by Luchino Visconti, one of the masters of world cinema, will meet with moviegoers.
Honorary awards will be given to master filmmakers
The Honor Awards given by the 3rd İzmir International Film and Music Festival to the masters who have contributed to our cinema every year, this year, is dedicated to the versatile artist Zuhal Olcay, who has made admirable performances in countless films and theater plays and fascinated the audience with his voice. The award will be given to Erkan Oğur, a master musician who wrote the soundtracks of unforgettable films, Grégoire Hetzel, one of the leading composers of French cinema, and István Szabó, the Oscar-winning grandmaster of Hungarian cinema.
While the unforgettable films of Zuhal Olcay, Erkan Oğur, Grégoire Hetzel and István Szabó will meet with the audience at the festival, Zuhal Olcay will be on stage with a concert to be held at the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Center and will sing his unforgettable songs.
The annual Intercultural Art Achievement Award will be given to Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi. Ghobadi will meet with moviegoers with a special talk at the festival where the films Four Walls / The Four Walls and No One Knows About Persian Cats will be screened.
Series music awards in their 3rd year
The 3rd Izmir International Film and Music Festival continues to give the TV Series Music Awards, which it started in its first year to contribute to the quality of production on television and digital platforms. The music and songs of the TV series broadcast on national channels and digital platforms will be evaluated by the distinguished jury members, consisting of television writers and musicians, and will decide on the Crystal Flamingo Awards in this field.
New awards from the Festival
In the National Competition section of the festival, Film Directors Association (FİLM YÖN) and Cinema Writers Association (SİYAD) Awards will be given this year. Another special award of the festival this year will be the Izmir City Council Award. The City Council jury, chaired by Nilay Kökkılınç, consists of the members of the Izmir City Council who have received cinema education and one representative from the Youth and Women's Councils.
Within the scope of the festival, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will also introduce the book "Sound and Music in Turkish Cinema" prepared by researcher writer Ali Can Sekmeç. The poster and catalog design was done by Nazlı Ongan, the award design was by Sema Okan Topaç, and the generic film design of the festival was done by Doğa Arıkan.
The festival will spread all over the city
The festival, which will be held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cinema, Institut français, Goethe Institute, Istanbul Italian Cultural Center, Liszt Cultural Center, Hungarian National Cinema Institution, Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, İstinye Park Teras and Özgörkey Holding, will be held in 7 venues for 7 days. More films will be shown.
Festival venues where all screenings are free; Kadifekale Ship at Göztepe ferry port where İstinyePark Teras Renk Cinemas, Alhambra Theater, Karaca Cinema, İzmir French Cultural Center, İzmir Art and open-air movie screenings will be held.
The detailed program can be accessed via social media.
The award ceremony of the festival will be held on the evening of June 21 at İstinyePark Teras Renk Cinemas Hall 4; The award-winning films will meet with the audience on 22 June. Detailed information can be found on the festival's social media accounts (izmirfilmmusicfest on Instagram and Facebook / @izmirfilmmusic on Twitter).