The 18th Golden Cocoon Film, which is to be held between Sept. 17 and 25, is giving room for a selection of Arab movies in the festival program in collaboration with International Federation of Film Critics, or FIPRESCI. The festival program was announced Tuesday in Istanbul with participation of Adana Metropolitan Acting Mayor Zihni Aldırmaz.
The movies to be displayed in the Arab films section include Tunisian Moufida Tlatli’s “The Silences of the Palace,” Lebanese Behij Hojeij’s “Ring of Fire,” Moroccan Yasmine Kassari’s “The Sleeping Child,” and Algerian Merzak Allouache’s “Harragas” (Refugees).
The national competition movies include F. Serkan Acar’s “Aşk ve Devrim” (Love and Revolution), Ali Özgentürk’s “Beni Sev” (Love Me), Onur Ãœnlü’s “Celal Tan ve Ailesinin Aşırı Acıklı Hikayesi” (The Very Sad Story of Celal Tan and His Family), Cemil Ağacıkoğlu’s “Eylül” (September), Özcan Alper’s Gelecek Uzun Sürer (Future Takes Long), Erdoğan Kar “Kadife / Büyük Ana” (Velvet / Big Mother), Tolga Örnek’s Kaybedenler Kulübü (Losers’ Club), Caner Erzincan’s “Mar”, İsa Yıldız and Murat Onbul’s “Memleket Meselesi” (A Matter of State), A. Haluk Ãœnal’s “Saklı Hayatlar” (Secret Lives), Ruhi Karadağ’s “Simurg” (Simurgh), Burak Cem Arlıel’s “Türk Pasaportu” (A Turkish Passport), Mustafa Nuri’s “Vücut” (Body), Muzaffer Özdemir’s “Yurt” (Fatherland).
Jury headed by Derviş Zaim
According to the official announcement the national competition jury includes actress Beste Bereket, critic Bülent Vardar, actress Ebru Ceylan (wife to Nuri Bilge Ceylan), director Selim Demirdelen and TV host Yekta Kopan. The jury is headed by accomplished Turkish director Derviş Zaim.
This year’s festival is also making room for a selection of world cinema. The Turkish premier of Woody Allen’s 2011 movie “Midnight in Paris” will be taking place within the scope of the festival. German director’s Jan Schomburg’s “Above us Only Sky” and Albanian director Bujar Alimani’s “Amnesty” will be screened in the same section.
Renowned Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” which took the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, is also scheduled for its Turkey premier in the festival.
A section of the festival program is also allocated for screenings of films by national competition jury Chairman Derviş Zaim. The festival program also includes a cinema congress titled “Turkish Cinema: A Look from Turkey and Abroad.” The congress will run Sept. 21 through 24.
