52nd THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
November 4 - 13, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
BALKAN SURVEY
For the 18th consecutive year, the Balkan Survey section of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), programmed by Dimitri Kerkinos, showcases a selection of the most important Balkan films of the year. Its objective is to draw attention to and launch platforms of communication between filmmakers of the area and international audiences. The Balkan Survey core program consists of 14 films.
A Tribute to the work of renowned Turkish director Erden Kiral will complement the main program of this year’s Balkan Survey.
BALKAN SURVEY CORE PROGRAM
Among the films that constitute the main program of the Balkan Survey section, are:
Best Intentions by Adrian Sitaru, Romania, 2011
Sitaru’s follow-up to Hooked (2008 TIFF Silver Alexander award) is based on his experience as a son with an ill mother. Keeping in with the “tradition” of Romanian realism of the past decade, this is nevertheless a deeply personal and authentic film. Its protagonist, an immature 30something man, proves to have an even more fragile disposition when having to deal with his mother’s sickness, and the immortality of his loved ones. The film won Sitaru the Best Director award in this year’s Locarno IFF.
Loverboy by Catalin Mitulescu, Romania/Sweden/Serbia, 2011 (2006 TIFF Balkan Fund Award winner)
Working with the two young protagonists of If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (2010), Mitulescu creates genuine, yet restrained, drama by placing a young couple relationship amidst a bleak social and economic setting. Luca and his friends (the “loverboys”) pick up girls and date them for a little while, only to hand them over to pimps who will take them abroad for prostitution. When he starts experiencing intense and unexpected emotions for a girl, an inner struggle ensues between Luca’s callousness and the force of real love.
Adalbert’s Dream by Gabriel Achim, Romania, 2011 (2010 TIFF Works in Progress and 2009 TIFF Crossroads participant)
Set near the end of Ceausescu's regime, two weeks after Chernobyl and on the day after Romanian football's most legendary moment (Steaua Bucharest beating Barcelona in the 1986 Euro Cup), Adalbert’s Dream was shot with old VHS technology to achieve the look of the era, a technique that works exceptionally well for this satirical film. Its protagonist, a factory worker and amateur filmmaker, lives in a world where everything good is credited to the Communist party, an irony that seeps into everything in life, big and small.
The Enemy by Dejan Zecevic, Serbia/Bosnia/Croatia/Hungary, 2011 (2010 TIFF Works in Progress participant)
A deeply disturbing and atmospheric war film disguised as a thriller, The Enemy is concerned with the extreme psychological conditions inflicted upon soldiers’ psyches. Gradually obsessing over the idea that a man discovered in a building is the Devil himself, several fighters turn against each other even though the Balkan war has just ended.
Punk’s not Dead by Vladimir Blazevski, FYROM/Serbia, 2011 (2010 TIFF Works in Progress participant)
A black comedy about the middle-aged former members of a punk band, the film follows the men as they cross the Balkans to be reunited for a concert. From Skopje to Serbia and Kosovo (as all the musicians used to once come from the single entity of Yugoslavia) with many irreverent and droll incidents on the way, we follow the rebels at heart as they come to grips with the new political, geographical and social landscape of the region.
Press by Sedat Yilmaz, Turkey, 2010
Narrating the story of Turkey's first Kurdish newspaper (the Free Agenda) during a period when Turkish-Kurdish clashes were at their worst, Press is concerned with the subject of journalists’ censorship, intimidation and imprisonments in Turkey. The debut film, lauded for its dramatic tension and authenticity, was awarded the FIPRESCI prize in the 2011 Istanbul IFF national competition section.
The Forgiveness of Blood by Joshua Marston, USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy, 2011
California filmmaker Marston follows his debut, Maria Full of Grace, with another story far removed from his native grounds, a tale of Albanian honor codes and the conflicts between tradition and 21st century life (aided by Albania-born screenwriter Andamion Murata). In a small town, a blood feud and a murder will force some people to hide and others to grow up; Marston’s assured direction and cast of non-actors delivers the suspense of the situation remarkably well. Silver Bear for Best Screenplay in the 2011 Berlin IFF.
In addition, several short films will be screened, such as Like a Dog in a Vineyard (UNMI Kosovo), Try not to Blink and Superman, Spiderman or Batman; (Romania); all three are International premieres.
THE FILMS:
Adalbert's Dream (Visul Lui Adalbert), Gabriel Achim, 2011, 101’, Romania
Best Intentions, Adrian Sitaru, 2011, 105’, Romania
Loverboy, Catalin Mitulescu, 2011, 94’, Romania/Sweden/Serbia
The Island (Ostrovat), Kamen Kalev, 2011, 108’, Bulgaria/Sweden
Ave (Abe), Konstantin Bojanov , 2011, 88’, Bulgaria
The Forgiveness of Blood, Joshua Marston, 2011, 108, USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy
The Enemy (Neprijatelj ), Dejan Zecevic, 2011, 109’, Serbia/Bosnia/Croatia/Hungary
Punk's Not Dead (Pankot ne e mrtov), Vladimir Blazevski, 2011, 104’, FYROM/Serbia
Press, Sedat Yilmaz, 2010, 100’, Turkey
SHORT FILMS:
Bora Bora, Bogdan Mirica, 2010, 39’, Romania
Try Not To Blink (Incearca sa nu clipesti), Radu Dragomir, 2011, 9’, Romania
Superman, Spiderman or Batman (Superman, Spiderman sau Batman), Tudor Giurgiu, 2011, 12’, Romania
Like a Dog in a Vineyard (Si qeni n'rrush), Driton Hajredini, Yll Citaku, 2010, 29’, UNMI Kosovo
ERDEN KIRAL TRIBUTE
Turkish director Erden Kiral belongs to the middle generation of his country’s auteurs, who shaped the social-realist cinematic tradition of the 70s and 80s. Born in 1942, he worked as a film critic, magazine editor and director of commercials before he launched his career as a filmmaker in a climate of political turmoil. Having been the assistant of, and influenced by the great Yilmaz Guney, Kiral left Istanbul for Berlin in the 1980s, when two of his films were banned in his homeland under the military regime. People’s inner journeys of self-discovery, as well as the condition of exile, are recurring themes in his body of work, which is imbued with a deep humanism. He has stated that “the act of exile not only leads to a settling of accounts with one’s self, but also with one’s society”.
This is the first time that a European festival presents a comprehensive tribute to Erden Kiral. He will attend the 51st TIFF to discuss his films, only one of which has previously screened in Greece. Amongst the films showcased are:
A Season in Hakkari (1983) is based on a celebrated novel by Ferit Edgu about an intellectual who is exiled to work as a schoolmaster in a tiny village in south-eastern Turkey. It won the Silver Bear at the 1983 Berlin IFF and put Kiral on the map; thematically and aesthetically, it is a precursor to all his later films.
Blue Exile (1993), a Turkish/German/Greek co-production based on the autobiographical novel The Fishermen of Halicarnassus, is a lyrical meditation on the epic journey, literal and personal, of its author, Cevat Sakir, who in 1925 traveled for six months from Ankara to Bodrum in order to serve a prison sentence.
On the Way, (2005), a fictionalized account of a trip Kiral and Guney took together and a reference to the latter’s most famous film, The Road, is Kiral’s most personal film. Also referring to an argument between the two men, it is the affecting story of how a student must at some point detach himself from his “master” and his teachings, and finds his own way, both in art and in life.
Golden Horn (2010), his only documentary and latest film, is about the historic inlet of the Bosporus that divides the city of Istanbul. It follows an imaginary character, an Greek raised in the Balat quarter, who returns to his beloved neighborhood years later; his voiceover is presented as a love letter to the area. Kiral mixed the elements of documentary and fiction to convey the importance of the Golden Horn as a crossroads; a unique place where “a mosque, a church and a synagogue lived together in peace”.
THE FILMS:
Golden Horn (Halic), 2010, 75’, Turkey
Conscience (Vicdan), 2008, 85’, Turkey
On the Way (Yolda), 2005, 90’, Turkey/Bulgaria
The Hunter (Avci), 1998, 96’, Turkey
Blue Exile (Mavi surgun), 1991, 113’, Turkey/Germany/Greece
The Mirror (Ayna), 1987, 92’, Turkey/Germany
A Season in Hakkari (Hakkari 'de bir mevsim), 1983, 111’, Turkey/Germany
On Fertile Lands (Bereketli topraklar uzerinde), 1980, 115’, Turkey
Canal (Kanal), 1978, 79’, Turkey
