The Montreal International Film Festival, one of the most prestigious festivals in the world of cinema, is hosting Turkey as a "guest country" and will screen a total of 11 Turkish films during this year's festival. A reception was given to celebrate Turkey being a guest country and the screening of 11 Turkish films at the 40th edition of the international festival. Hosted by Turkey's Ambassador to Canada Selçuk Ünal and Turkey's culture and tourism attaché to Toronto Derya Şerbetçi, the reception was overseen by Turkish directors Bedir Afşin and Gözde Kural, producer Gökçe Işıl Tuna and actress Öykü Karayel.Speaking at the reception, which attracted great attention from Canadian film critics and the art world, ambassador Ünal said Turkish cinema celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and is one of the fastest developing cinema industries in the world. "Turkish cinema has earned great success in recent years. Turkish films have been featured and awarded at the most prestigious festivals in the world. Today, the Turkish cinema industry, whose budget is more than TL 3 billion ($1 billion), has doubled the number of films it produced in Turkey compared to 10 years ago. Turkish cinema delivers Turkish stories to the entire world. Following the U.S. and India, Turkish cinema is the third biggest country considering the number of films produced a year," Ünal added.The world premieres of "Toz" (Dust) and "Yemekkteydik ve Karar Verdim" (We Were Dining and I Decided) took place at the festival as well.The 40th Montreal International Film Festival will host Hollywood stars such as Isabelle Adjani and Willem Dafoe. Director Seren Yüce's "Rüzgarda Salınan Nilüfer" (The Swaying Waterlily) will compete in the World Film Competition section while Hande Gözde Kural's "Toz" (Dust) and Görkem Yeltan's "Yemekkteydik ve Karar Verdim" will compete in First Film section for the big prize. Moreover, Can Yüzel's "Yaktın Beni" (You Ruined Me) will compete for the big prize in the Regard section.Held for the guest country Turkey, the Turkey Film Focus section will screen Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Kasaba" (Town) and "Koza" (Coccon), Ufuk Bayraktar's "Kümes" (The Coup), Emre Konuk's "Çırak" (Apprentice), Bedir Afşin's "Son Kuşlar" (Last Birds) and Turkish cinema's touchstone director Ömer Lütfi Akad's classic films "Vesikalı Yarim" (My Notorious Love) and "Gelin" (Bride).The 40th Montreal International Film Festival will continue until Sept. 5.