23rd International Istanbul Film Festival

The International Jury of the 23rd International Istanbul Film Festival presided over by Hugh Hudson (UK) and composed of Bengt Forslund (Sweden), Michael Galasso (USA), Michele Levieux (France), Derek Malcolm (UK), Jafar Panahi (Iran), Tayfun Pirselimoğlu (Turkey) and Serra Yılmaz (Turkey) has decided to give:

The GOLDEN TULIP Award to “Bu San / Goodbye, Dragon Inn” by Tsai Ming-Liang (Taiwan) for it laments the death of a cinema, but not the death of cinema. A love story, a ghost story and a story of hope for a universal art.

The SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE JURY has been shared between “Profesionalac / The Professional” by Dusan Kovavevic (Serbia-Montenegro) for its outstanding script and “L’Esquive” by Abdellatif Kehiche (France) for its harmonious ensemble acting.

I myself could not watch too many movies in the festival this year when I compare my "performance" according to previous years. Here is my list:

:: The Return - Dönüş
:: Woman of Affairs - Damgalı Kadın
:: Coffe and Cigarettes - Kahve ve Sigara
:: Fuse - Yanan Ateş
:: Reconstruction - Yeniden Sev Beni
:: Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror
:: The Wooden Camera - Tahta Kamera
:: The Man of The Year - Yılın Adamı

Well, I hope to see some in the cinemas soon...