OPENING GALA

Upon turning eight-teen, Salih leaves the orphanage to go on a journey that uncovers bitter truths of a war-ridden past.

Director: Ozan Aciktan

Writers: Ozan Aciktan, Ozan Guven, Fethi Kantarci, Uygar Sirin, Mehmet Turgut, Funda Çetin

Stars: Bora Akkas, Belçim Bilgin, Mehmet Ergen, Ozan Guven, Meryem Uzerli, Okan Yalabik

The life of Elif, who is a Yuruk girl living on the peak of Toros mountains, sticks with in the mountains and her house in which her oppressive grandmother also lives with them.

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Director: Ümmiye Koçak, Yasin Korkmaz

Writer: Ümmiye Koçak​

Stars: Seher Çuvadır, Seher Dagdur, Ümmiye Koçak

Amid the intense political violence of Istanbul, Kadir is released on parole two years early on the condition that he become an informant for the police gathering terrorist informations, activities, and searching for bombs on trash cans.

Director: Emin Alper

Writer: Emin Alper

Stars: Mehmet Özgür, Berkay Ates, Tülin Özen 

A widow, who recently lost his husband goes back to college to graduate after 30 years.

 

Director: Çagan Irmak

Writers: Ali Demirel, Çagan Irmak, Volkan Sümbül, Emre Özdür 

Stars: Demet Akbag, Yetkin Dikinciler, Sevil Aki, Batuhan Begimgil 

Two young people figure out how to shape their future according to love or career. Then one of them finds himself to decide whether to live happily with his beloved wife with a risk of giving harm to her or sacrifice himself for her safe.

 

Director: Ali Bilgin
Writer: Siyah Kalem
Stars: Çagatay Ulusoy, Leyla Lidya Tugutlu, Hüseyin Avni Danyal

For Aram, an Armenian painter and poet, life in Istanbul is growing more dangerous by the day. In the winter of 1943, he flees to the Turkish-Georgian border, where Mikhail and his young wife MerEyem give him shelter in a hut in the forest. Here, Aram waits for the papers he needs to escape to the Soviet Union. But the city-dwelling intellectual can't handle life in the woods.

 

Director: Özcan Alper
Writers:  Özcan Alper, Ahmet Büke
Stars:  Onur Saylak, Sofya Khandemirova, Mustafa Ugurlu

Tarik Akan starred in over 100 films and directed documentaries and television series in a career spanning more than four decades. He was among the country's leading actors in the 1970s and 1980s and earned an Honorable Mention at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival in 1985 for the film "Pehlivan."
 
Akan was imprisoned for 2½ months following Turkey's 1980 military coup after giving a political speech in Germany. He chronicled his days in prison in a book, "Mother, I Have Lice."

"Yol", which earned the top prize at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, dealt with the coup's aftermath and was banned in Turkey until 1999.

Takim is the story of a group of street soccer players from all walks of life in İstanbul who come together to enter a tournament to win the prize money. The story taps into a very real phenomenon happening in big cities in Turkey where corrupt construction giants bully the poor out and build immense buildings instead. Turgay and Tufan are up against the wall when they are threatened by the construction companies to sell their large plot of land where they own and operate an hourly rental soccer field.

 

Director:  Emre Sahin
Writers:  Emre Sahin, Inan Temelkuran
Stars:  Cezmi Baskin, Sinan Bengier, Selim Erdogan

A Turkish immigrant in the U.S. explores her identity through her homeland foods in an excursion to Istanbul, Turkey.

 

Director:  Zeynep Kilic*
Writer:  Zeynep Kilic

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*Screenwriter and Director Zeynep Kilic attended the Q&A after the screening, together with some snacks from Turkish cuisine and drinks.

'Istanbul Makami' is a cinematographic improvisation with 5 musicians from abroad who fall in love with the Maqam Music (Classical Ottoman Music) and decide to live in Turkey believing that music might best be learned in the lands it was born and performed. Each has different stories but the desire to find their own path despite modern times' obligations intersects their roads. Constructing three layers -music, Istanbul and combination of both in the filmic platform- the film is a modern times fairytale in praise of Istanbul and its classical music; a film about obstinacy, desire, looking for one's own raison d'etre, travelling, being a world citizen and the power of music to understand the other and express oneself in the pursuit of intertwining stories following passion. It tells unique stories about the common dreams we are afraid to approach, and thus, tries to give inspiration to us to free ourselves.

 

Directors: Yunus Emre Aydin, H. Ozlem Sariyildiz*

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*Q&A with Director H. Ozlem Sariyildiz after the screening of Istanbul Notes

When the ship's owner goes bankrupt, the crew learns there is a lien on the ship and that key crew members must stay on board. Six men trapped aboard a ship sailing to Egypt.

 

Director: Tolga Karaçelik

Writer: Tolga Karaçelik

Stars: Nadir Saribacak*, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Cermik

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*Q&A with Actor Nadir Saribacak after the screening of Ivy.

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Short films selected by the STFF Shorts Film Committee out of more than 300 submissions. 10 films were screened in short films session during the festival.

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Congratulations to the directors, actors and actresses and anyone who gave effort to make it happen these top 10 films!

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