Blue Bicycle's young lead wins top award at Greek film festival

"Mavi Bisiklet" (Blue Bicycle), which won the best national film award at this year's "Antalya Film Festival," added two more top awards to its tally at the 19th Olympia International "Film Festival for Children and Young People" in Greece, regarded as one of the leading film festivals in Europe.

The film's young lead Selim Kaya won the "best young actor in a feature film" award while "Blue Bicycle," claimed the "OKLE Award," presented by the Greek Film Clubs' Association, extending the critically acclaimed films' streak of winning top prizes at all the festivals it has attended so far.

Selim Kaya was awarded the "best young actor in a feature film" by an international jury at the 19th Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People for his successful portrayal of "Ali," the protagonist in the "Blue Bicycle," which was well received by viewers and critics alike.

Kaya was one of the 400 children who participated in the preliminary training prior to the shooting of the film in Konya's Akşehir district. His portrayal of the character was so sensitive and realistic that Kaya succeeded in attracting the attention of the judges at the festival. More than 120 films participated in the festival which was held between Dec. 3 and Dec. 10, with only 12 movies were selected for the competition.

"Blue Bicycle" also won the Greek Film Clubs' Association's "OKLE Award" due to its minimalist directorial style and directness of its script. The film's producer and co-writer Nursen Çetin Köreken accepted the awards on behalf of the film's crew.

Supported by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, "Blue Bicycle," a Turkish-German co-production, premiered at the 66th International Berlin Film Festival in its Generation KPlus category.

The film has won various awards and received financial support by attending several workshops during the production and distribution phases. The film was released in Turkey at the competition category of the 35th International Istanbul Film Festival.

"Blue Bicycle" had won "The Best Project Award" at the Cinekid Co-Production Market in Amsterdam back in 2013 and became the first production from Turkey to receive financial support from Eurimages, under the scope of its "Film for Children" program. It also received post-production support from Doha Film Institute.

"Blue Bicycle" also returned from the 4th Red Tulip Film Festival in the Netherlands with "The Netherlands-Turkey Cinema Critics Award."

Ümit Köreken's critically acclaimed directorial debut "Blue Bicycle" also became the first Turkish film to compete at the 46th Giffoni International Film Festival in Italy.

Having won "Best Film" award in the national competition, along with "Best Director" and "Best Screenplay" awards at 53rd Antalya Film Festival, "Blue Bicycle" was also screened in the competition categories at the 18th Mumbai Children's Film Festival, 4th Giffoni Macedonia Youth Film Festival and 4th International Bosphorus Film Festival.