One of Türkiye's most incredible cinematography events, the Istanbul Film Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), will kick off with its 42nd edition by presenting a range of high-quality and award-winning films from Turkish and world cinema, special screenings, star actors and master directors.

With its rich program of 134 feature-length and 29 short films, including the newest examples of world cinema, cult classics, films by master directors and the latest movies by young talents, the festival will feature films by 160 directors from 84 countries over 12 days. In addition to the screenings, there will also be talks, special screenings, and events with guest directors and actors.

Speaking at the news conference held at The Marmara Hotel Taksim, the accommodation and venue sponsor, IKSV General Director Görgün Taner, said: "While we plan our 2023 festivals as IKSV, we continue to evaluate what we can do specifically in the culture and art field for the earthquake zone."

Stating that they recently launched the Instrument Support Fund for music students and teachers in the earthquake zone by relocating some of the 2023 budgets, he said: "We continue to work to expand the scope of this fund with the contributions of different institutions. We constantly communicate with regional institutions and plan medium and long-term efforts to meet the needs. As IKSV, we will continue to strive for culture and art always to continue and for hope to sprout for the future."

Festival movies

2023's Istanbul Film Festival's screenings will occur in six iconic theaters of the city, such as "Atlas 1948" and the French Cultural Center in Beyoğlu. The program will be opened with "Scrapper," which won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema-Dramatic category at the Sundance Film Festival this year

In Charlotte Regan's heartwarming, humorous, creative, sweet and emotional father-daughter story, Harris Dickinson, from the lead role in "Triangle of Sadness," plays the role of the father.

The Cinema Honorary Awards, presented by the festival to individuals who have contributed to the cinema with heart and effort, will be given to Kayhan Yıldızoğlu and Nevra Serezli this year. The awards will be presented at the opening ceremony on April 6.

'Meetings on the Bridge'

The joint production, education and networking platform "Meetings on the Bridge," which brings together filmmakers, directors and screenwriters from Türkiye and neighboring countries with international film professionals every year, will be held online from April 12-14.

As the first event of its kind, it provides opportunities for Turkish and neighboring country filmmakers to make international sectoral presentations for their feature-length fiction and documentary projects and films in the post-production stage and a platform for artistic and financial joint productions.

William Friedkin

The festival also pays homage to the master director William Friedkin, who has produced many masterpieces in various genres, from crime to horror, drama and adventure.

William Friedkin, one of the pioneers of the "New Hollywood" movement in the 1970s with most of his cult works, is included in the festival's retrospective section. Nine of Friedkin's films from different genres, including horror, crime, thriller-adventure and drama, including "The Exorcist," celebrating its 50th year this year, will be shown at the festival with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Türkiye.

Turkish classics revived

The event continues to restore and bring to light vital works of Turkish cinema and to bring new copies of these classics to Turkish cinema. This year, cinephiles will be able to watch "The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet," directed and written by Metin Erksan and starring Fatma Girik as Hamlet, in a restored copy by Atlas Post Production.

In memory of Fatma Girik, who passed away in 2022, the film will be screened in a special gala show.