JINHA

NEWS CENTER - The 34th Istanbul Film Festival committee announced yesterday that the majority of the film festival's screenings have been canceled in the wake of controversy over the censorship of the film "Bakur," which focuses on the everyday life of PKK guerrillas.

The process started when "Bakur" was pulled from the ongoing 34th Istanbul Film Festival at the last minute before its screening on April 12, by the orders of Turkey’s Culture Ministry, which denied the film a permit. The film, directed by Çayan Demirel and Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, focuses on the daily life of PKK guerrillas.

In a written statement, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the body organizing the festival, said they had received an official letter from the Culture Ministry stating that films produced in Turkey needed an official registration certificate in order to be screened at festivals.

“As per the statute, festival participation requires that ‘films produced within the country are registered and recorded.’ Screening of films produced in Turkey without this certificate results in legal sanctions. Therefore, the Istanbul Film Festival will not be able to screen films that don’t have the aforementioned certificate,” the statement said, adding that a future screening date of the film would be announced on the condition that it acquires the registration certificate. The statement said that the requirement only applied to locally produced films.

Several local films without the certificate had already been screened at the festival without any problems. The film’s producers, Surela Film Production, said in a statement that such procedures were themselves a form of “open censorship.” “We do not accept these prohibitive practices that violate the rights and freedoms of filmmakers and continue despite our objections,” they said in a statement on their website.

In response to the cancellation of "Bakur," Turkey-based filmmakers showing their work at the festival met to discuss how to proceed. Initially, the directors and producers of the films “Nefesim Kesilene Kadar” (Until I Lose My Breath) and “Homo Politicus” announced that they were withdrawing their films from the festival until the public screening of “North” was rescheduled. Subsequently, most of the other filmmakers came on board and withdrew their own films. In addition, more than 100 Turkish filmmakers, including the most recent winner of Cannes’s Palme d’Or, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, signed a letter on April 12 alleging censorship at the festival.

The majority of films from six different sections of the festival have completely withdraw. Some screenings will continue, but many of screenings are canceled for several competitions, including the National and International Golden Tulip Competitions and the documentary competition. The closing ceremony is also canceled.

The Istanbul Film Festival has invited the teams who have withdrawn from the festival to come to movie theaters at the originally planned screening times, in order to turn these places into “spaces of discussion.”

Turkey's filmmakers have issued a call of solidarity to the whole sector for festivals and professional organizations to change the regulation requiring registration for films to be shown at festivals.

(nt/cm)