Berlinale winning producer of "On Body and Soul" Andras Muhi will be the head of the international official competition jury at this year's 18th International İzmir Short Film Festival (İSFF).Academic, director, producer and journalist Alev Fatos Parsa, academic, producer and director of Balkan Music Trilogy, Rock the Trumpet, Sevdalinka: The Alchemy of Soul, Tamburica: The Sound of Landscape, Sali Saliji Sallini and film critic, writer and tutor Murat Tolga Şen will also serve on the jury.
The festival's Best Film Award recognizes inspiring filmmaking, with the jury selecting the winner from a shortlist of 10 international titles. Last year's winner was Juanjo Gimenez's "Time Code."
Award winning screenwriter and director Handan İpekçi and Harika Uygur, the cast director of award-winning films such as "Mustang" and "Three Monkeys" are on the official competition jury as well as actors Ali Düşenkalkar and Deniz Cakir, film editor Aziz İmamoglu, and awarded cinematographer Aytekin Çakmakçı. Last year's winner for the national competition was Emre Kayış's "Çevirmen" (Translator).
Additional juries will decide the winners in the festival's documentary, animation and experimental competitions. Head of the Department of Radio-TV and Cinema at Ege University Faculty of Communication Dilek Takımcı, award-winning cinematographer and documentary director Tahsin İşbilen, and documentary maker, director and photographer Haluk Koçoğlu will select the winners for the documentary competition.
Supported by the Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, İzmir General Directorate of Cinema, Buca, Konak, Bornova and Karşıyaka Municipalities and the French Cultural Center, the festival will run from Nov. 7-12.
FILM SELECTIONS
The 18th İSFF is bringing an inspiring international selection to movie theaters this year as one of the most prestigious and respected festival in Turkey. In addition to national and international panorama selections, the films will be screened under the categories of "Special Selection," "French Cultural Center Selection," "Euroshort Film Selection," "Busho Film Festival 2017 Selection," "Romania Short Film Selection," and "Short Export 2016 Selection." Examples of contemporary experimental films and video art from Germany will also be screened at five different venues. The main screenings are going to be at the Institut Français, İzmir Art in Culture Park, Buca Municipality Tarık Akan Youth Center and at the participating universities' halls for students to have better access to the festival.