Boston Turkish Film Festival has started, Excellence in Turkish Cinema Award presented

March 25, 2015 - PRLog -- Boston Turkish Film Festival, which has kicked off with the screening of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep, received massive interest from Boston’s cinéastes with its rich program. This year the ninth Boston Turkish Film Festival Award for Excellence in Turkish Cinema was presented to director Onur Ünlü for his contributions to Turkish cinema. Dr. Ahmet Boyacıoğlu, Director and Chair of the Ankara Cinema Association, accepted the award on Onur Ünlü’s behalf at a ceremony held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Boston Turkish Film Festival has been presenting this award annually to directors for their impacts on Turkish cinema since 2007. Previous recipients of the award were directors Zeki Demirkubuz, Reha Erdem, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Derviş Zaim , Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, Erden Kıral, and Reis Çelik.

“Fish” and “I’m Not Him” had their North America Premieres in the Festival

Director Derviş Zaim’s “Fish” (Balık) and Director  Tayfun Pirselimoğlu’s “I’m Not Him” (Ben O Değilim) had their North America premieres, receiving passionate applause of the audiences. Film screenings were followed by discussions with the directors.

Directors of the award-winning films of the competition were presented their awards

Winners of the 9^th Boston Turkish Festival Documentary and Short Film Competition were presented their awards at the 14^th Boston Turkish Film Festival after the film screenings.

A panel discussion about the experiences of participating directors as well as their perspectives on cinema, which was moderated by prominent film critic Peter Keough, took place immediately following the film screenings and the award ceremony at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Directors Ahmet Boyacıoğlu, Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, Derviş Zaim, Beyza Boyacıoğlu, Derya Durmaz and Hasan Serin participated in the panel.

9^th Boston Turkish Festival Documentary and Short Film Competition winners were “Ağrı and the Mountain” (Ağrı ve Dağ) by Hasan Serin for Best Short Film and “A Dream School in the Steppes” (Tepecik Hayal Okulu) by Güliz Sağlam for Best Documentary. Audience Awards went to “Ziazan” by Derya Durmaz in the short film category, and “Toñita’s” by Beyza Boyacıoğlu and Sebastian Diaz in the documentary category. More than 200 films were submitted and 40 finalist films were screened in the competition. Competition jury consisted of distinguished names such as Haden Guest, Director of Harvard Film Archive; Peter Keough, Film Critic of Boston Globe ; and Carter Long, Film Curator of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

For more information about the festival please visit http://www.BostonTurkishFilmFestival.org