Penny Bank and Sister are the big winners at the eighth Bosphorus Film Festival

by Vassilis Economou

03/11/2020 - The other Golden Dolphins were shared between In the Shadows and Mavzer in the National Competition, while Ordinary People and Kodokushi won in the International Competition

Penny Bank and Sister are the big winners at the eighth Bosphorus Film Festival

The winners of the eighth Bosphorus Film Festival

Ferit Karol’s debut feature, Penny Bank, and Bulgarian director Svetla Tsotsorkova’s Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Svetla Tsotsorkova
film profile] emerged as the big winners of the Best National and International Film Awards, respectively, at the closing ceremony of the eighth Bosphorus Film Festival, which ran from 23-30 October while following all necessary measures to ensure social distancing. Emrah Kılıç, the artistic director of the Istanbul-based gathering, which screened a total of 60 films, stated that it was very important to organise the event physically and thanked the guests who attended.

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The National Feature Film Competition jury, led by Turkish writer-scriptwriter-producer Tarik Tufan, and also comprising director Ramin Matin, cinematographer Taner Tokgöz, and actresses Ipek Türktan Kaynak and Ecem Uzun, handed the 100,000 TL (€11,000) Golden Dolphin to the director of Penny Bank. Karol doubled up his haul of Golden Dolphins (the name given to all awards given out at the festival), as he was also awarded Best Screenplay for his film. “The process of writing the script took eight years. I would like to thank everyone who supported me in this process, especially my team,” he stated. The movie also scooped two more awards, for Gülçin Kültür Şahin and Murat Kılıç, who received the Best Actress and Best Actor gongs, respectively.

The Best Director Award was bestowed upon Erdem Tepegöz for his latest feature, In the Shadows [+see also:
film review
film profile]. “This award encourages me to make good films,” stated the filmmaker upon receiving the Golden Dolphin. The feature also won a second prize, for Best Cinematography, which went to Hayk Kirakosyan, while Fırat Terzioğlu snatched the Best Editing Award for Orçun Benli’s Weasel. The Special Jury Prize went to Mavzer by Fatih Özcan, who stated: “This film would not have been possible without the stories my parents told me on long winter evenings.” Furthermore, Mavzer received two of the parallel awards, the FİYAB (Film Producers' Professional Association) Best Producer Award for Enes Erbay, and the FILM-YÖN (Film Directors’ Association) Best Director Award, which went to Özcan.

In the International Feature Film Competition, the jury chaired by director-scriptwriter-producer Joanna Kos-Krauze, which included Ismet Sijarina, Anna Katchko, Nariman Aliev and Zlatko Vidačković, picked Sister by Svetla Tsotsorkova as the big winner of the 50,000 TL (€5,500) Golden Dolphin for Best Film. The film also received the two acting trophies for Monika Naydenova and Asen Blatechky.

The Best Director Award was handed to Chiara Bellosi for her Ordinary Justice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and the Special Jury Prize was bestowed upon the documentary Kodokushi by Ensar Altay, which had its world premiere at the festival.

Here is the complete list of winners at the eighth Bosphorus Film Festival:

National Feature Film Competition

Best Film
Penny Bank - Ferit Karol (Turkey)

Best Director
Erdem Tepegöz - In the Shadows [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Turkey)

Special Jury Prize
Mavzer - Fatih Özcan (Turkey)

Best Actress
Gülçin Kültür Şahin - Penny Bank

Best Actor
Murat Kılıç - Penny Bank

Best Screenplay
Ferit Karol - Penny Bank

Best Director of Photography
Hayk Kirakosyan - In the Shadows

Best Editing
Fırat Terzioğlu - Weasel (Turkey)

FİYAB Best Producer Award
Enes Erbay – Mavzer

FILM-YÖN Best Director Award
Fatih Özcan - Mavzer