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The Istanbul international Film Festival. (Communique).

Article Excerpt
Only slightly dampened by a controversy involving the censorship of a Turkish film originally scheduled for screening, the Twenty-First Annual Istanbul Film Festival was lively and focused, with a varied series of special programs as part of the larger festival. Featuring over 180 films from more than thirty countries, the festival--in addition to its international and national competition films--presented selections concentrating on film and the arts, literary adaptations, animation, human rights, and work created by the young directors of world cinema. The program included a memorial retrospective honoring Vittorio De Sica, as well as tributes to Turkish director Tunc Basaran, and international directors Shohei Imamura, Stephen Frears, and Nanni Moretti, the last two of whom were honored at the closing awards ceremony. The films of actors Christopher Lee and Alain Delon were featured, along with the work of filmmakers Carlos Saura and Republic of Georgia's Otar Iosseliana, both of whom were honored with the Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award. This year's focus on a young director featured the work of Spain's Alajandro Amenabar, and Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet was recognized with a fictional adaptation of his "Ferhad and Shirin" and several documentaries about his life and work. All this amidst breathtaking vistas along the shores of the Bosporus, with its historic mosques and imposing palaces, and the eclectic collection of cafes, restaurants, and shops along the crowded Istaklil Cadessi, where four of the five festival theaters were located.

Given the unfortunate fact that so few Turkish films reach the United States, the national films and coproductions provided rare cinematic glimpses into Turkish culture and politics. Like Turkey itself--an economically uncertain country which stands as a fragile secular outpost facing growing fundamentalist pressures--the Turkish film industry continues to struggle financially, though it has been revived and invigorated by a growing number of talented young filmmakers, who, nevertheless, must sometimes contend with constraints placed on their artistic freedom. Before television decimated the industry in the late 1960s, Turkey was producing some 200 films a year, a number that dropped dramatically to under twenty from that time on, with fewer than ten produced in 2001, a year of severe economic crisis for the country. While some government funding exists in the form of loans to filmmakers, corporate sponsorship remains a key source of funding...

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