The Eye Society - For All Watching Occasions has started preparations for this year’s edition of the Ayvalık International Film Festival which will be held between 14 and 19 September. With Azize Tan as director and Fatih Özgüven as programming consultant, the festival is dedicated to delivering a schedule brimming with the long-awaited feature films, short films and documentaries of the year, as well as panels and interviews with a focus on cinema.
The Open Air Film Night Series herald the upcoming Festival
The Eye Society - For All Watching Occasions kickstarts the season with the Open Air Film Night Series that will be held between 24 June and 2 July. A series of ten select films from world festivals will be screened in the seaside garden of the New Ayvalık Municipal Building (former Tax Office).
The Open Air Film Night Series will open on 24 June with James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, winner of the Oscar for Best Effects at the 2023 Academy Awards. Set ten years after the first film, Avatar: Path of Water returns to Pandora’s world to meet new Na’vi cultures and portray the Sully family’s struggle to survive on majestic oceans. Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis and Kate Winslet, Avatar: The Way of the Water is now the third highest-grossing film of all time.
The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s latest film that premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, will be screened on 25 June. McDonagh started his career with a short film in 2004 and built on his success with films such as In Bruges, The Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing and, Missouri. In The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh brings together acclaimed actors Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell, exactly fourteen years after his feature film debut, In Bruges. The film has won the Best Actor (Colin Farrell) and Best Screenplay awards at the Venice Film Festival. It collected multiple awards at the BAFTA and Golden Globes and was nominated for nine Oscars. The film tells the story of two men whose friendship comes to an abrupt end with the sentence "I just don't like you anymore", the ensuing impasse and the alarming consequences on the small town in striking cinematic language.
Ruben Östlund's 2022 Palme d'Or winner Triangle of Sadness will be screened in Ayvalık on 26 June. Known for his films Force Majeure and The Square, Östlund tells the story of a struggle for survival of a group of people from different classes who get stranded on a deserted island after a yacht sinks with super-rich passengers on board. Woody Harrelson, Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean star in this satire on class and social behaviour.
27 June will see the screening of Kurak Günler / Burning Days), Emin Alper’s hugely successful film which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and collected nine awards including Best Director at the 59th Antalya Altın Portakal Film Festival and six awards including Best Film at the 33rd Ankara Film Festival. Starring Selahattin Paşalı, Ekin Koç, Selin Yeninci and Erol Babaoğlu the film takes place in the fictional town of Yanıklar which has been struggling with drought and water shortages and portrays the conflicts between the newly installed Public Prosecutor Emre, the town’s mayor Selim, local journalist Murat and the town folk.
Better known as the director of the controversial but hugely successful American Psycho, Mary Harron’s new release Daliland will be screened on 28 June at the Open Air Film Night Series. With critically acclaimed performances by Ben Kingsley and Barbara Sukowa, the film focuses on the ageing genius Salvador Dali as he prepares for a big exhibition. Told through the eyes of the young gallery assistant James, Harron also sheds light on the lesser-known sides of Dali and his relationship with his wife Gala.
June 29 at the Open Air Film Night Series will be an evening of nostalgia with Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers. Despite growing up at the height of Italian Neorealism, Luchino Visconti quickly developed his unique style which brought him international fame. Screened in collaboration with Cinematheque/Cinema House and the Italian Cultural Centre and starring legends like Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Renato Salvatori and Claudia Cardinale, the film is about a family who migrates from the poverty of southern Italy to the north in the 1960s in hopes of a better life. As a portrayal of profound social change brought on by uncontrolled economic growth through the eyes of a family, Rocco and His Brothers questions patriarchist traditions through the rivalry of two siblings who fall in love with the same girl and the battle to hold on to established social values such as kindness, sacrifice, loyalty and heroism under terrible economic conditions.
Two films will be screened on June 30. First up is François Ozon’s first film since Peter Von Kant. Travelling back to 1930s France with a detective comedy, The Crime Is Mine centres on the talentless and penniless actress Madeleine Verdier, who stands accused of murdering a famous producer, and her best friend and lawyer Pauline who defends her. The film is “ultimately about the triumph of sorority,” according to Ozon who convinced Isabelle Huppert to make a surprise appearance halfway into the film.
The second film to be screened on June 30 is The Eternal Daughter, which became one of the most acclaimed productions of the year soon after its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. Known for The Souvenir 1 and 2 and Archipelago, British director Joanna Hogg once again gives the lead role to Tilda Swinton who does an amazing job of acting the roles of both mother and daughter. Shown as one of the ten best independent films of 2022 by the National Society of Film Critics, The Eternal Daughter portrays the relationship between a mother and her daughter in the gothic atmosphere of an old hotel they move into where they are confronted by memories and hidden truths.
Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas team up with Argentina’s famous Oscar Martinez to star in Argentine director duo Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn’s The Official Competition. Screened on 1 July, the film is a satire on the behind-the-scenes of the cinema industry. A famous director hired to shoot an iconic movie, two leading roles, one enacted by a Hollywood heartthrob and the other, by a fanatic stage actor, increasingly odd expectations, relationships and all the egos that come into play…
The Open Air Film Night Series will end with Saint Omer on the evening of 2 July. Better known for her documentaries, director Alice Diop’s first fictional feature film is based on the true story of Fabienne Kabou. The film tells the story of young novelist Rama, who attends the trial of a woman accused of leaving her baby unattended on the beach and causing her death. The film questions many current issues from motherhood and immigration to discrimination and prejudices. Saint Omer was shortlisted to represent France for the Best International Film category in the previous Oscar awards, selected as the Best Debut Film at the Venice Film Festival and César Awards and gathered deserved praise from a long list of critics.
The films will start at 21:15 every night in the garden of the New Ayvalık Municipal Building. Tickets will go on sale at 100 TL on www.biletix.com on Saturday, 17 June and will also be available daily at the box office at the entrance of the Municipal Building.
Application period starts for the Young Cinema Programme!
Initiated by the Ayvalık International Film Festival last year, the Young Cinema programme hosted 30 students from ten cities across the country from Zonguldak to Antalya, Ankara to Muğla in 2022. The programme will continue this year and will give priority to students from the provinces affected by the 6 February Earthquake.
Students interested in improving their skills in the field of cinema, and especially cinema students or members of university cinema clubs can apply to Ayvalık International Film Festival‘s Young Cinema programme by submitting their application form by 30 June 2023. 30 students selected from among the applicants will find the opportunity to join workshops by industry professionals and gain first-hand experience working with the festival organisation team.
During the festival, the 30 students accepted to the Young Cinema programme will join workshops by industry professionals involved in production, writing, directing, editing, and post-production. The students will also contribute to the festival by taking responsibility for different tasks in the organisation. With travel, accommodation and food expenses covered by the Festival, the students will be able to watch the top festival films of the year, take part in panels and presentations, and meet and talk to filmmakers. Students will also gain experience and knowledge while taking on different voluntary duties during the festival.