Organized for the fourth time this year, the International Red Crescent Amity Short Film Festival is getting ready to meet cinephiles in Istanbul on Dec. 2-5.
The event is being organized in collaboration with Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry and Anadolu Agency (AA).
This year’s edition is dedicated to prominent Turkish-Muslim mystic and philosopher Hacı Bektaş Veli.
Headed by Turkish director Atalay Taşdiken, the festival’s jury consists of Georgian filmmaker Giorge Ovashvili, Kosovan director Isa Qosja, Turkish actor Serdar Orçin and Turkish academic Nazlı Eda Noyan.
About 448 films from 50 countries applied for the competition and noncompeting sections, and 19 nominees are competing for the best film award. Among these 19 movies are Nihat Seven's "Beyaz" ("White"), Olga Torrico's "Gas Station," Lucie Pages' "Firefly," Fateme Mohammadi's "Burned," Vahid Hassanzadeh's "Bridge," Amir Karami's "Death Locked Out," Maryam Esmikhani's "Emergency," Doug Roland's "Feeling Through," Sergi Marti Maltas' "The Bathtub," Hristo Simeonov's "Nina," Janek Tarkowski's "Help3," Antonio Genovese's "Between Fear and Love," Semiha Yıldız's "Dileklerin Cudisi" ("Judi of Wishes"), Ömer Dişbudak's "Burhan," Ömer Faruk Yardımcı's "Hasat" ("Harvest"), Gökalp Gönen's "Lal," Gon Caride's "Two Options," Reza Fahimi's "White Clad" and Ngwatilo Mawiyoo's "Joy's Garden."
In the competition, the film that wins the "Best Film Award" will be awarded TL 30,000 ($2,331). While the "Special Jury Award" winner will be awarded TL 20,000 and the "Honorable Mention Award" winner will receive TL 10,000. In addition, the winner of the "Fono Film Post Production Technical Support Award" will be awarded TL 20,000.
Other sections
As many as 11 selected films will also vie for the "Humanitarian Eye Section" of the festival, which accepts applications of films about the effects of dangers such as wars, natural disasters and pandemics in the world on human beings.
Daniel Ortiz Entrambasaguas' "Breath," Nicola Piovesan's "Closed to the Light," Aman Azhymat's "Ukoy," Lolita Naranovich's "Poor People," Luca Esposito's "Paper Boat," Arturo Duenas' "Dajla: Cinema and Oblivion," David Del Aguila's "Martians," Malaz Usta's "Sürgünde Bir Yıl" ("A Year in Exile"), Sabah Mohammadi's "Long Sunset," Bahare Nikjoo's "Incurable" and Murat Kılıç's "Koçber" are among the contenders of this section. The winner will receive TL 20,000.
The "40 Years of Gratitude" section of the festival is based on the concept of the festival, which is amity, and invites people to friendship. In the Panorama Selection, awarded short films that made their premieres at important festivals around the world, will be screened.
The Special Screening Section will bring together examples of world and Turkish cinema's different genres. In this section, Iranian director Majid Majidi's "Sun Children," Qosja's "Three Windows and A Hanging," Taşdiken's "Meryem," Can Bildik's "Bir Dokunuş Bin Hayat" ("One Touch Thousand Lives") and Ekrem Aydın's "Karantina Penceresi" ("Quarantine Window") will be screened for viewers.
Also, Majidi will share his experiences with movie lovers at the city's Atlas Cinema on Dec. 4 with his first masterclass in Turkey.
This year, the festival's Amity Honorary Award will be presented to Turkish actor Selda Alkor and director Engin Ayça.