The Ayvalık International Film Festival Has Come to a Close!

Organized by the Eye Society from September 14–19, the Ayvalık International Film Festival attracted strong participation from film lovers, particularly Ayvalık residents and visitors from neighboring provinces. Directed by Azize Tan, with Fatih Özgüven serving as program advisor, the festival screened a total of 57 films in the sections titled International Selection, Trying to Make Films, First Films, And Ayvalık, Tribute to Godard, In Memoriam, and Films from Turkey, which featured feature-length films, short films, and documentaries. In addition to the screenings, film crews answered questions from audiences, talks were organized around the films’ themes, more than 30 students attended workshops and volunteered at the festival as part of the Young Cinema program, and Eye Society Children’s Day was held for the first time. The Ayvalık International Film Festival hosted 200 guests—including directors, actors, producers, members of the press, film industry representatives, and students—while 8,000 viewers filled the venues. The Yeni Bir “Rising Star…” Prize for Screenwriting, presented with the support of Mey|Diageo, went to director and screenwriter Umut Subaşı for Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster.

The Ayvalık International Film Festival began on the evening of September 14 with opening remarks by Ayvalık Mayor Mesut Ergin and festival director Azize Tan. During the opening ceremony at the Ayvalık Municipality Grand Park Amphitheater—which attracted considerable interest from Ayvalık audiences—the recipient of the Yeni Bir “Rising Star…” Prize, presented as part of the festival since last year with the support of Mey|Diageo, was announced. The members of the selection committee—Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, Dilde Mahalli, Eytan İpeker, Nil Kural, and Selen Uçer—attended the ceremony, where this year’s Yeni Bir “Rising Star…” Prize for Screenwriting was presented. Honored for his film Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster, Umut Subaşı received the prize from Mey|Diageo Culture and Arts Advisor Banu Zeytinoğlu. The opening night concluded with a screening of May December, directed by Todd Haynes.

Who Attended the Festival?

Audiences showed considerable interest in the screenings held from September 14–19 at the Ayvalık Municipality Vural Cinema Nejat Uygur Stage, Sanat Fabrikası Theater, Ayvalık Municipality Grand Park Amphitheater, ASKEV Sera, and the Old Village Market. The screenings scheduled to take place at the Amphitheater on the festival’s final two evenings were moved to the İsmet İnönü Cultural Center because of Ayvalık’s famous winds.

No Bears administrative producer Nader Saeivar, editor Amir Etminan, and executive producer Sinan Yusufoğlu; Mirror Mirror director Belmin Söylemez, producer Haşmet Topaloğlu, and actors Şenay Aydın, Manolya Maya, and Cengiz Orhonlu; Together, Alone director Kasım Ördek; In Limbo documentary director Somnur Vardar and editor Eytan İpeker; This Is Not Me documentary directors Jeyan Kader Gülşen and Zekiye Kaçak, along with the film’s central figure, Mustafa; This Is Not a Place for You director Ceyda Aşar; Glass Curtain director Fikret Reyhan, executive producer Seda Turan, actors Selen Kurtaran, Uğur Karabulut, Alper Çankaya, Elif Çakman, Emrah Özdemir, and Murat Düz, and coordinator Erkan Tahhuşoğlu; Duet documentary directors Ekin İlkbağ and İdil Akkuş, along with one of the documentary’s subjects, Mısra Gündeş; Eflatun director Nur Akalın; Hatice documentary director Murat Erün, along with its subject Hatice Özkan and her parents; Kadıköy’s Best Fortune Teller director Emine Yıldırım; Snow and the Bear director Selcen Ergun, actors Asiye Dinçsoy and Saygın Soysal, cinematographer Florent Herry, and editor Çiçek Kahraman; Black Night director Özcan Alper, actor Berkay Ateş, producer Soner Alper, and cinematographer Roy İmer; Kavur documentary director Fırat Özeler and producer Emir Melek; Who Is Mihri? documentary director Berna Gençalp, producer and animation director Berat İlk, producer Yonca Ertürk, and actress Feride Çetin; Sheep director Benhür Bolhava; In the Blind Spot director Ayşe Polat and actors Çağla Yurga, Ahmet Varlı, and Nihan Okutucu; Maffy’s Jazz documentary director Deniz Yüksel Abalıoğlu and editor Eytan İpeker; Oregon director Kerem Ayan and actors Aslı İnandık, Selen Uçer, and Ferit Aktuğ; Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster director Umut Subaşı, producer Cemre Erül, and actress Melisa Bostancıoğlu; Homesick director Gülsel Özkan; Syrian Cosmonaut director Charles Emir Richards; The Girl Who Muddied the Water director Deniz Telek; Tinebe director Mehmet Çağlar Odabaş; Narcosis director Martijn de Jong; and The Earthlings documentary director Harun Yel and producer Esra Güzel met with audiences during the screenings of their films.

As part of the Ayvalık International Film Festival, during the talk titled The Age of Struggle and Memory, Nebahat Dinler—who has been actively involved in campaigns through platforms such as the Ayvalık Nature Platform and the Ayvalık Independent Women’s Initiative—academic Esra Başak, and curator, educator, and writer Vasıf Kortundiscussed the turning points of Ayvalık’s long-running civil struggle against environmental destruction, biodiversity loss, and the seizure of shared spaces. Following the screening of The Taste of Things, sociologist Ferda Erdinç—the creator of Zencefil, which introduced Istanbul to vegetables, artisanal bread, and spices—held a conversation about food, passion, flavor, and pleasure under the title From the Stove to the Table.

Following the screening of Maffy’s Jazz, Sibel Köse, one of Turkey’s leading jazz vocalists and a master of improvisation, and jazz pianist Kürşad Deniz gave a concert in memory of “Maffy.” After the screening of Contempt in memory of groundbreaking director Jean-Luc Godard, who passed away last year, literary scholar, art theorist, and academic Zeynep Sayın delivered a talk titled Reflections on Contempt: Nonconformism. The talk will be repeated at Sinematek in October as part of the “Godard in the 1960s” retrospective. The festival also screened The Hustler in memory of recently deceased multidisciplinary film critic Cüneyt Cebenoyan and held a talk titled Erguvani İstimbotwith the participation of Çiğdem Öztürk and Yeşim Burul.

As part of the “Material of Cinema” talk series, Çiçek Kahraman and Fatih Özgüven held a discussion titled “The Editor and the Material”; Tilbe Saran and Fatih Özgüven spoke under the title “The Actor and the Material”; and Yunus Roy İmer and Florent Herry, moderated by Çiçek Kahraman, participated in the talk titled “The Cinematographer and the Material.”

Students from 26 Universities Met in Ayvalık

As part of the Ayvalık International Film Festival, which places particular importance on projects involving young people, the Young Cinema program was organized under the sponsorship of Ay Yapım for students who wanted to develop their skills in cinema—particularly those studying film or belonging to university film clubs. Thirty students selected from among the applicants received training from industry professionals and gained experience by working with the festival team. This year, a total of 44 students from 26 different universities across 11 provinces—including students living in Ayvalık—attended workshops led by professionals in fields such as producing, writing, directing, and editing. They also became an important part of the festival by taking on responsibilities across different areas of its organization. This year, priority was given to applications from students in provinces affected by the February 6 earthquakes.

Eye Society Children’s Day

As part of the Ayvalık International Film Festival, Eye Society Children’s Day was held at the Sabancı University Küçükköy Creative Technologies Workshop. Seeking to bring audiences of all ages together with cinema, the festival did not forget its younger viewers and organized a full day of activities under the sponsorship of the QNB Finansbank – Little Hands, Big Dreams corporate social responsibility platform and with the support of the Consulate of the Netherlands. Archaeologist Ufuk Kırca introduced children to a simulated excavation. Ayşe Nur Arık led he Tatakizome workshop; Simge Albeyoğlu, the Leaf Printing workshop; Mehtap Sun, the Ceramics workshop; Berat İlk, the Animation workshop; and Hazal Kaya, the I Write, Draw, and Paint workshop. Following a film watched together with the children, Mana Uygur held an awareness workshop using creative drama techniques.

During Eye Society Children’s Day, musician Serdar Ateşer and children’s song composer and lyricist Gizem Dalgıç gave a mini-concert on the open-air stage. Musician Ahmet Ali Arslan offered children a different kind of storytelling experience with Piyu the Gentle Pirate, accompanied by body percussion, while Aslıhan Hazar met with children for a storytelling session that took them to the other side of the world. During Eye Society Children’s Day, clinical psychologist and pedagogue İnci Vural and Prof. Dr. Yankı Yazgan delivered a talk for parents titled The Effects of the Social Environment and Peer Relationships on Mental Health.

In addition to all these workshops and activities, the 22-square-meter Ames Room brought to the venue by Finansbankand the virtual-reality experience area established by the Sabancı University Creative Technologies Workshop attracted considerable interest from children. At the conclusion of Eye Society Children’s Day, the Dutch films Bigman and Corvinewere screened.

The Ayvalık International Film Festival took place with the valuable contributions of Ayvalık Municipality, CultureCivic, Bilginer-Melin Ayvalık Art, Culture, and Education Foundation, Kürşat Ayvalık, Paribu Cineverse, O3 Medya, OGM Pictures, Gold Film, Kendine Has, Boyner, MUBI, Manzara Ayvalık, Çamlık Gazinosu Aile Çay Bahçesi, Esra Başak–Ela Başak Atakan, Eren–Alptekin Coşkun, Fatma–Mustafa Kürşat, İnci Vural, Nil House, Ayvalıkzade, Çöp(m)adam, and the Ayvalık Chamber of Commerce.

The press sponsors of the Ayvalık International Film Festival were Ajandakolik, Altyazı, Ayvalık Magazine, Bant Mag, Bianet, Birgün, Dadanizm, Dizidoktoru, Gazete Duvar, KRT, Kutsal Motor, Lavarla, Radyo ODTÜ, T24, TELE 1, and Üretim Kaydı.