18th Boston Turkish Film Festival Announces Lineup

BOSTON - March 10, 2019 - PRLog -- The Boston Turkish Film Festival continues to present films by leading and emerging Turkish filmmakers as its 18^th edition is set to run from March 21^st to April 7^th at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The festival will kick off with "The Wild Pear Tree" by acclaimed director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, official entry film of Turkey to the 2019 Academy Awards, which made its world premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The film recently received six awards by SIYAD Turkish Film Critics Association, including Best Film Best Director, Best Screenplay (Akın Aksu, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan), Best Actor (Doğu Demirkol), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Bennu Yıldırımlar), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Murat Cemcir).

The program also features a Turkish cinema classic from the 1970's, "The Bus" (Otobüs), a refugee story by Tunç Okan, Tolga Karaçelik's feature film Butterflies, winner of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize and; Sibel, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2018 Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland.

The festival program offers a vast array of films in terms of their themes, and most of the films will be making their North American and US premieres.

The following feature films are in the festival program: The Plane Tree" (Çınar) by Mustafa Karadeniz, "Trust" (Güven) by Sefa Öztürk, "Let the Kid Play" (Bırakın Çocuk Oynasın) by Hacı Mehmet Duranoğlu and Atalay Taşdiken, "Debt" (Borç) by Vuslat Saraçoğlu, "Family Matters" (Aile Arasında) by Ozan Açıktan, The Pigeon" (Güvercin) by Banu Sıvacı, "Ayaz" by Dersu Yavuz Altun, "Siren's Call" (Son Çıkış) by Ramin Matin, "Halef" by Murat Düzgünoğlu.

Award-winning films of the Boston Turkish Festival's Documentary and Short Film Competition will also be screened at the festival. Winners of the Documentary Film Competition are:

Passenger" (Yolcu) by Cem Özay  Best Short Film Audience Award, "Toprak" by Onur Yağız, Best Short Film Jury Award, "A Story with Music' (Müzikli Bir Hikaye) by Jale İncekol, Best Documentary Jury Award "A Fading Language, A Fading Cuisine" (Kaybolan Bir Dil, Kaybolan Bir Mutfak) by Deniz Alphan, Best Documentary Audience Award.  A panel discussion with the filmmakers follow the screenings, moderated by Boston Globe film critic Peter Keough.

More information about the films and the festival program please visit: http://www.bostonturkishfilmfestival.org.