SEATTLE TURKISH FILM FESTIVAL
ARCHIVE 2012 - 2017
The opening gala film for the 2017 festival was Ferzan Ozpetek's Red Istanbul . One of the starring actress of the film, ÇiÄŸdem Onat was present to meet with the audience and answer the questions. The closing film was Drawers and the director of the film Caner Alper was with us for the Q&A session and the after party. The surprise of the festival was Jake Gerber, roommate of Yavuz Capli who is one of the main character of the documentary Blue.
Beside of screening 8 feature length films, short film competition finalists have also been screened, in the fourth year of the short film competition, opening with Tufan Tastan's film Words Fly Away.
The opening gala film for the 2016 festival was Ozan Aciktan's My Mother's Wound. In addition to that, ten feature length films were screened. Short film competition finalists have also been screened, in the third year of the short film competition, opening with Hakan Hücüm's film The Obsolete One.
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The festival also hold a tribute night for Tarik Akan, who was among the country's leading actors in the 1970s and 1980s, to honor his memory and contributions to the cinema.
The 2015 festival, which opened with director Onur Ünlü’s film Let’s Sin starring Serkan Keskin, screened seven feature length films for Seattle audiences. The Short Film Competition screening, in its second year at STFF, featured the films of competition finalists, opening with DoÄŸuÅŸ Özokutan ÇiftçioÄŸlu’s film Random Attempts.
One of the festival’s biggest surprises was Kaan Müjdeci’s film Sivas, which represented Turkey in the 88th Academy Awards in the category of Foreign Language Film! Kaan Müjdeci was present to answer audience questions following the screening of his film about the prairie life of an 11 year-old boy and a fight dog named Sivas.
The 2nd Annual Seattle Turkish Film Festival returned November 20 - November 23, 2014 with the best in contemporary cinema from all over the Turkish-speaking world. The festival featured 10 films as well as its first Short Film Competition Session.
Films of note included Whisper, If I Forget by director ÇaÄŸan Irmak, a story about a young girl who runs away to Istanbul to become a pop star and returns later in life to face those she left behind, as well as Nobody’s Home by Deniz Akçay about a family torn apart by the death of their patriarch.
The 2012 Seattle Turkish Film Festival delighted Seattle moviegoers with five contemporary feature films by some of Turkey’s most respected directors.
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My Grandfather’s People (2011) by the internationally celebrated director ÇaÄŸan Irmak kicked off the festival with a screening at the opening night gala. The director traveled to Seattle for a Q&A with the audience.
The festival also featured Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) by the two-time Cannes recipient Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Merry-Go-Round (2011) by Ilksen BaÅŸarır, Love Likes Coincidences (2011) by Ömer Faruk Sorak, and last but not least Summer Book (2008) by Seyfi Teoman.
Previous Short Film Competitions
More than 200 short films submitted in 2017. It was really tough choice to come up with 10 finalists. Our short film committee spent great amount of time to see every submitted film and, long and exciting conversations afterward. And the jury sorted top 3 films out of 11 finalists!
We were so glad to receive 300+ submissions in the third year of the short film competition. In addition to feature-length films, top ten finalists were screened as part of the short film competition. The winner film was Hakan Hücum's The Obsolete One where the runner-up was Pınar YorgancıoÄŸlu's Mrs. Nebile's Wormhole and the third place was Emin Akpinar's with his film South Pole.
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The annual Seattle Turkish Film Festival took place in Seattle on November 5-8, 2015. Alongside the feature-length films, a selection of short films were screened as part of the short film competition in its second year.
The competition jury, comprised of distinguished voices in the Seattle arts and film community, determined the winners from among 12 finalists. DoÄŸuÅŸ Özokutan ÇiftçioÄŸlu’s film Random Attempts took first place and was hosted in Seattle at the historic Hotel Sorrento for the duration of the festival. Demet Sever’s film Rejection was runner-up, while Yusuf Özer took third place with his film Man On The Road.
The inaugural Seattle Turkish Film Festival Short Film Competition took place in 2014. Out of over 100 applicants, 11 shorts were selected to screen together during a dedicated festival session. Bir Maç Günlügü (A Soccer Game Journal) by Deniz Özden won first place in the competition, with Mert Gökalp’s Irme coming in second and Zen by Özer Kesemen placing third.