ON WITH THE TRADITION THE FESTIVAL ON WHEELS TAKES TO THE ROAD

4–10 December
2009, Ankara

11–17 December
2009, Artvin

18–20 December
2009, Skopje (Macedonia)

 FESTIVAL TRAILER:    
http://www.vimeo.com/7840264

 
Basak EMRE, Festival Chief                           

Organized by the Ankara Cinema Association and supported by the Turkish
Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Festival on Wheels is taking to the road
with a van load of films for the 15th time.

The Festival
on Wheels will begin this year’s itinerary on home ground in Ankara. After inspiring audiences Ankara from 4-10
December, the festival will move on to Artvin on 11 December. As of this year,
the international competition will be held with the support of the Municipality of Artvin;
this follows a three-year stint in Kars.
The International Film Competition will feature the Gold and Silver Bull Awards
and is scheduled to end on 16 December. Again, beginning from this year, the
festival’s local and overseas guests will be hosted in Artvin by the Municipality of Artvin. From Artvin, the festival will
then cross the border into Macedonia,
taking a programme of largely Turkish films to the city of Skopje from 18-20 December. Supported by the
Culture and Information Office of the Turkish Embassy in Skopje, this leg of the festival will be
joined by directors and actors from participating films.

Year’s Best Films to Compete at the Festival on Wheels Dr. Ahmet, Fest Director

This year’s
festival programme will delight film enthusiasts once again. Ten films are to
have their Turkish premieres in Artvin. The Municipality of Artvin
will be awarding the best film in competition with the Golden Bull worth 10.000
Euros, and the second best film with the Silver Bull worth 5000 Euros. As every
year, the SİYAD (the Turkish Film Critics’ Association) Jury will also present
an award.

Films in this
section include: Adieu Gary (dir, Nassim Amaouche), A Brand New Life (dir, Ounie
Lecomte), Castaway on the Moon (dir, Hae-jun Lee), Eamon (dir, Margaret Corkery),
The Girl (dir, Fredrik Edfelt), Police, Adj (dir, Corneliu Porumboiu), Here (dir,
Tzu Nyen Ho), Huacho (dir, Alejandro Fernández Almendras). On the Way to School
(dir, Orhan Eskiköy, Özgür Doğan) and Bornova Bornova (dir, Inan Temelkuran).

Special Presentations

Looking
for Eric by Ken Loach and Capitalism, a Love Story by Michael Moore will be
presented out of competition during the Festival.

Turkish Cinema 2009

Alongside the
international competition, festival goers will get to sample a selection of the
latest fare from Turkey.
The cast and crew of films screened in the Turkish Cinema 2009 section will be
there to meet audiences in both Ankara
and Artvin.

Films in this
section include: 10 to 11 (dir, Pelin Esmer), Envy (dir, Zeki Demirkubuz), Wrong
Rosary (dir, Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun) and Journey to the Moon (dir, Kutluğ Ataman).

Festival Truck

In Memoriam: Halit Refig

The
film My Aunt will be presented as a tribute to the esteemed Turkish director
who passed away recently.

Anti-ism at the Festival on Wheels

Another,
perhaps more challenging part of the festival line-up is the ANTI section. The
films featured here reflect on the latest economic, political, social and
cultural developments sweeping both Turkey and the rest of the world in
their respective stands against capitalism, war, the middle class, education,
nationalism, militarism, sexism and authoritarianism. A panel discussion will
also be held as a side-bar to the ANTI section.

Films in the section include:

ANTI
Capitalism:
The Yes Men (dirs, Chris Smith, Dan Ollman, Sarah Price) and The Yes Men Fix
the World (dirs, Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum), starring Mike Bonanno and Andy
Bichlbaum, the activist-artist duo notorious for their satirical pranks; ANTI Torture:
Prison Nr. 5 (dir, Çayan Demirel); ANTI War: Jean-Pierre Melville's
timeless classic Le Silence de la
Mer; ANTI Bourgeoisie: Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie (dir, Luis
Buñuel), one of the most sharply critical and entertaining films in cinema
history; ANTI
Education Jean Vigo's masterpiece Zéro de Conduite, along with
Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub's cult short En Rachachant; ANTI Sexism: Sitcom,
François Ozon's first feature-length film and one of his most accomplished
works to date; ANTI
Exploitation: Ken Loach's Bread and Roses; ANTI Nationalism:
This is England from Shane Meadows, reckoned to be one of the finest
examples of social realism in recent British cinema; ANTI Militarism:
Z32, last feature film of Israeli director Avi Mograbi and Chromophobia
from the master of animation Raoul Servais; ANTI Authoritarianism: Burma VJ:
Reporting from a Closed Country (Anders Østergaard), one the most interesting
documentaries of this year.

Germany 30 Years
Before & 30 Years

On
features two portmanteau films that take up the political and social problems facing
Germany
in the 1970s and 2000s respectively. Both Deutschland im Herbst (Germany in Autumn) and Deutschland 09 (Germany
09) are also a showcase of the responsibility felt by contributing directors
towards their country.

A Lithuanian Avangard: Audrius Stonys

This year’s
festival discovery is Lithuanian director Audrius Stonys. Born and educated in Vilnius, Stonys has worked variously in New
York, Copenhagen and Tokyo. As a guest of the
festival, the director will be on hand to introduce his remarkably creative
short and medium-length documentaries: Four Steps, Uku Ukai, Earth of the Blind

This
year’s Short is Good, a regular part
of the Festival on Wheels programme, will again feature innovative shorts from
different countries around the globe. As with every year the section will also
give special emphasis to a national cinema, in this case Brazil. The
films presented in Shortly Brazil are intended to give an idea of Brazilian
cinema as a whole.

Every year, the Children Films
section draws young audiences by the hundreds and screenings are invariably
packed. Over the years, in fact, this has become one of the hallmarks of the
Festival on Wheels. This year, the special programme for kids will include
films from Poland and Germany.

This
year marks the fourth for the Let’s Talk
Cinema meetings sidebar of the Festival on Wheels. The get-together of
young filmmakers, now regularly referred to as a week-long film school, will
take place this year in Ankara
and Artvin. Launched in 2006, the event comprises a series of cinema classes
given by professionals from various disciplines. This year’s programme will
take the form of workshops (Yesim Ustaoglu and Dervis Zaim) and Q&A
sessions in the two cities.

The
Docu-Travel international documentary film production workshop, organized as a
collaboration between the Festival on Wheels and Bilkent University,
is into its third year this year. As part of the workshop, film students from Turkey and Georgia will shoot films based
around Artvin, the festival’s international stop. As well as Let’s Talk Cinema
IV, Artvin will play host to a film criticism workshop with the collaboration
of NISI MASA Turkey. Aimed at supporting young amateur film critics from
Turkey, the workshop activities will include producing a daily festival
newspaper, Nisimazine Artvin, which will be distributed free of charge to
festival guests and audiences alike.

Each
year, the Festival on Wheels gives away its own publications to attending
audiences. This year brings a new addition to the collection, Reha Erdem Kitabı
(The Cinema of Reha Erdem), a book that takes a comprehensive look at the films
of Turkish director Reha Erdem. Edited by critic Fırat Yücel, the volume is to
be published in collaboration with Çitlembik Publications.

This
year’s Festival on Wheels poster was designed once again by Behiç Ak,
who has done the honours since the first edition of the festival. Yeşim Demir
produced the graphic design.

The festival will be celebrating its 15th year in Ankara,
Artvin and Skopje.
Our thanks in advance to everyone joining us on our travels. We look forward to
another year of watching, creating and sharing films...