The 36th Istanbul Film Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), announced the winners of its competitions at an award ceremony held at Soho House İstanbul on Friday evening, 14 April.

Hosted by Yekta Kopan, the 36th Istanbul Film Festival Award Ceremony saw presentations of awards in the scope of International and National Golden Tulip competitions, FACE Human Rights in Cinema, National Documentary and National Short Film competitions, as well as the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize, FIPRESCI International, National, and National Short Film Awards.

International Golden Tulip Competition Awards

The International Golden Tulip Competition Jury was headed by Reha Erdem and comprised director Syllas Tzoumerkas, scriptwriter and producer Katayoon Shahabi, film critic Boyd Van Hoeij and director Gabe Klinger.

In this year’s International Competition, 13 films from 11 countries were evaluated to receive the Golden Tulip. The International Competition Golden Tulip Award, presented once again in memory of Şakir Eczacıbaşı, comes with a 25,000 Euro grant funded by the Eczacıbaşı Group, while the Best Film receives 10,000 Euros, granting another 10,000 Euros to its distributor in Turkey. The Special Jury Prize corresponds to 5,000 Euros.

This year the International Golden Tulip Competition Award, presented every year in memory of Şakir Eczacıbaşı, went to The Ornithologist, directed by João Pedro Rodrigues. The announcement of the winner was made by Head of Jury Reha Erdem, followed by the presentation of the monetary award to Mario Tiago Paixao, Embassy of Portugal in Turkey’s Cultural Atachè by Eczacıbaşı Group’s President of Corporate Communications Sedat Birol.

Announced by Katayoon Shahabi, the International Golden Tulip Competition Special Jury Prize went to the film Summer 1993, directed by Carla Simón.

National Golden Tulip Competition Awards

12 films that were completed in the season of 2016-17 vied for the Golden Tulip in the National Competition of the festival. Among them, 10 films had their world premieres and one film had its first screening in Turkey at the festival. The National Competition Jury was headed by directors The Taylan Brothers, joined by novelist, story writer and playwright Sema Kaygusuz, cinematographer Emre Erkmen, and editor Çiçek Kahraman as members.

The National Golden Tulip Competition Jury chaired by The Taylan Brothers awarded prizes in 9 categories: Golden Tulip Best Film, Golden Tulip Best Director, Special Jury Award, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Director of Photography, Best Editing, and Best Music.

The Golden Tulip for the Best Film in the National Competition went to Yellow Heat, directed by Fikret Reyhan. Producers of the film Reyhan and Nuriye Bilici received the 150.000 TL monetary award from the jury presidents Yağmur Taylan and Durul Taylan.

Yeşim Ustaoğlu won the Golden Tulip for the Best Director for her film Clair Obscur. The announcement of the winner was made by the director Jo Sol and Cem Kırmacı, the Operational Marketing Manager of Türk Tuborg A.Ş. presented the award to Yeşim Ustaoğlu. The Golden Tulip for Best Director is supported by the Turkish Cinema Theme Sponsor Türk Tuborg A.Ş. with 50,000 TL.

The Special Jury Prize in memory of Onat Kutlar was given to the film Blue Silence directed by Bülent Öztürk. The Special Jury Prize is supported with a 60,000 TL monetary award. Öztürk received the award from jury presidents Yağmur Taylan and Durul Taylan.

Ecem Uzun won the Best Actress Award for her role in Clair Obscur. She received her award from the actor Moe Dunford. The winner of the Best Actress award receives 10,000 TL.

Aytaç Uşun won the Best Actor Award for his role in Yellow Heat. He received his award from the actress Kerry Fox. The winner of the Best Actor award receives 10,000 TL.

The Best Screenplay Award in the National Competition was given to Bülent Öztürk for the film Blue Silence. Jury member Sema Kaygusuz presented the award.

Marton Miklauzic won the Best Director of Photography Award in the National Competition for the film Yellow Heat. Jury member Emre Erkmen presented the award.

The Best Editing Award in the National Competition was given to Ömer Günüvar & Fikret Reyhan for their work in the film Yellow Heat. The award was presented by the jury member Çiçek Kahraman.

The Best Original Music Award in the National Competition went to Antoni Komasa-Lazarkiewicz for the film Clair Obscur. The award was presented by Gabe Klinger.

National Short Film Competition

Spearheaded with the objectives of encouraging short film making, supporting the development in this field, and bringing together the audience and outstanding short films, the National Short Film Competition was held for the second time this year. The jury, composed of directors Vincent Dieutre, Gürcan Keltek and Ziya Demirel, chose the Best Short Film among 11 films to receive the monetary award of 5,000 TL.

Filiz Işık Bulut’s film Zelal won the Best Short Film Award, which was announced by Vincent Dieutre. Pınar Yorgancıoğlu’s film Mrs. Nebile’s Wormhole won the Special Mention.

National Documentary Competition

This year, 9 films competed in the National Documentary Competition launched by the Istanbul Film Festival in order to support documentary film-makers and documentary film production in Turkey. The National Documentary Competition Jury consisted of documentary directors Lusin Dink, Ayşe Polat, and journalist Erkan Aktuğ. The Best Documentary Award in the National Documentary Competition is supported by a monetary award of 10,000 TL.

The Best Documentary Award was given to Mother Derdo and The Walnut Tree directed by Serdar Önal. Blue directed by Mehmet Sertan Ünver won the Special Mention.

Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize

Since 2013, the Istanbul Film Festival is honouring the respected producer and director Seyfi Teoman, whom we lost untimely at a young age, with a prize presented in his memory. This year, the receiver of the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize was determined by a jury composed of producer Çiğdem Mater, actress Şebnem Bozoklu and producer Sinan Yabgu Ünal.

13 debut films produced in Turkey and screened in the festival’s “Turkish Cinema” section were nominated for the prize. Bülent Öztürk’s film Blue Silence was presented a monetary award of 30,000 TL via CMYLMZ Fikirsanat.

FACE Film Award of the Council of Europe

The Film Award of the Council of Europe (FACE) that is presented to a film in the Human Rights in Cinema Competition section exclusively at the Istanbul Film Festival, is now in its 11th year. The winner of FACE is presented a statuette and a monetary award of 10,000 Euros supported jointly by the European Council and Eurimages fund.

The FACE Award Jury comprised scriptwriter and director Jo Sol, director and actress Derya Durmaz, Council of Europe Media Officer and Spokesperson Can Fişek, and Eurimages fund project manager Susan Newman-Baudais.

FACE Film Award of the Council of Europe was given to the film Félicité, directed by Alain Gomis. The film Blue Silence, directed by Bülent Öztürk won the Special Mention.

FIPRESCI International, National, and National Short Film Awards

In every edition of the festival, The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) presents three FIPRESCI Awards under the categories of International Competition, the National Competition, and the National Short Film Competition. This year, the FIPRESCI Jury was headed by Klaus Eder from Germany, and included Alberto Castellano from Italy, Ofer Liebergall from Israel, Ladislav Volko from Slovakia and Abbas Bozkurt and Evrim Kaya from Turkey.

The winners of the FIPRESCI Awards were: In Between directed by Maysaloun Hamoud in the International Golden Tulip Competition, Something Useful directed by Pelin Esmer in the National Golden Tulip Competition, and Hinterland directed by Sinan Kesova in the National Short Film Competition. The awards were announced by Klaus Eder.