Notizie

Hakan Günday and Onur Saylak, the writer-director team behind hit Turkish series “Persona,” have signed with CAA for representation.

The highest-rated show in Turkey, “Persona” premiered its first season in 2018 and production on the highly-anticipated Season 2 recently wrapped. It will air on Turkish streaming platform Gain later this year.

“Persona,” or “Şahsiyet” as it is known in Turkey, follows Agâh, a retired 65-year-old judicial clerk, who crosses paths with Nevra, the only woman police officer in Istanbul’s homicide office. When Agâh is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, he sees an opportunity to commit a murder that he has been planning for years, knowing that he will not remember or feel remorse for it. Meanwhile, Nevra, on the verge of resignation due to her colleagues’ misogynistic behavior, will be forever changed by Agâh’s crime.

Günday began his career as an author and has penned nine books, three films and two series.

Driven by intense desires and baser instincts, the unpredictability of human nature can beat any odds and turn socio-economic conventions on their heads on a whim while doing so. The message conveyed by the last quarter of the Turkish thriller “Chokehold” becomes the saving grace of the otherwise tedious movie. Released on Netflix, the movie is directed by Onur Saylak, whose best works critique the existing status quo, which is the same in the case of “Chokehold” for most of the part, except cynicism has replaced subtlety, big time, for this venture. The movie, which follows a privileged criminal as he finds it exceedingly tough to turn over a new leaf after seemingly leaving the past behind, manages to play with the audience’s expectations by the end, which could have worked better if not for a monotonous buildup.

Spoilers Warning

Plot Synopsis: What Happens In ‘Chokehold’?

As the movie begins,...

Chokehold is a Turkish film for Netflix directed by Onur Saylak and starring Kivanç Tatlitug and Funda Eryigit.

From the booming Turkish film industry comes this thriller that, without making any noise, we found (at least) quite interesting.

A film with a great virtue: it knows how to carry and create its own narrative rhythm.

Movie Review

You have to get over the first few minutes, in which it seems like one of those rural dramas that apparently, go nowhere: a city couple in a rural environment where everything is elusive and they are not part of the community. Good premise, well developed in terms of images. Then something happens and the film changes, the drama takes shape and the characters, entity.

Just as we have spoken (on other occasions) about characters who are simply carried away by the plot, here it is similar, but well done and balanced. The...

Includes new film from Erdem Tepegoz and four TV shows.

Erdem Tepegoz’s next feature Ash is one of five new projects from Turkey commissioned by Netflix.

Ash, plus four new Turkish series, will premiere on the streamer in 2024 with production starting shortly.

Tepegoz’s film follows an affair between a rich married woman and a young carpenter.

His last film In The Shadows premiered at Moscow International Film Festival in 2020 where it picked up the special jury award in the main competition.

The TV shows include The Town from Seren Yuce, whose debut feature Majority won Lion of the...

Streaming giant Netflix has revealed a strong Turkish original series and film slate, and unveiled details of works in progress, during a content presentation on Tuesday.

New original projects that will start production shortly include an untitled action adventure series set on a submarine, starring Kivanc Tatlitug, directed by Tolga Karacelik, and produced by Ogm Pictures with Jason George as lead writer; series “The Uysals,” where an architect leads a double life as a punk, produced by Ay Yapım, written by Hakan Gunday, and directed by Onur Saylak.

Upcoming series also include “Midnight at the Pera Palace,” created and produced by Karga Seven Pictures, a Red Arrow Studios company, written by Elif Usman and directed by Karga’s Emre Sahin, adapted from the non-fiction book of the same name written by Charles King. The series depicts a young journalist’s encounter with the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, where she...

Berlinale 2020: Three prizes have been conferred upon the new projects by Onur Saylak, Simon Jaquemet and Veerle Baetens. The 17th edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market (22-26 February) has handed out its three awards after an extensive series of more than 1,500 individual meetings involving almost 600 participants. This year’s selection brought together 36 new feature-film projects (see the news). Turkish director Onur Saylak received the prestigious Eurimages Co-production Development Award for his project There Are Two Kinds of People in This World, which follows the president’s visit to a coalmine during Ramadan to attend a dinner with the miners. When the mine collapses, trapping him, some miners and a journalist, tensions begin to rise, as some of the survivors either worship or hate the president. Written by Hakan Günday, the project was presented at the Co-Production Market by Turkish producer Nadir Öperli for Liman Film, and received the...

Efm event runs until Wednesday.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market has awarded three cash prizes to There Are Two Kinds Of People In This World, The Last Paradise On Earth, and The Melting.

Onur Saylak’s There Are Two Kinds Of People In This World has received the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000. Liman Film and b.i.t arts from Turkey are producing. A Special Mention went to 8horses’ Electric Child, which Simon Jaquemet of Switzerland will direct.

The €10,000 Vff Talent Highlight Award has gone to Sakaris Stórá’s The Last Paradise On Earth from the Faroe Islands and produced by Jón Hammer.

Efm event runs until Wednesday.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market has awarded three cash prizes to There Are Two Kinds Of People In This World, The Last Paradise On Earth, and The Melting.

Onur Saylak’s There Are Two Kinds Of People In This World has received the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000. Liman Film and b.i.t arts from Turkey are producing. A Special Mention went to 8horses’ Electric Child, which Simon Jaquemet of Switzerland will direct.

The €10,000 Vff Talent Highlight Award has gone to Sakaris Stórá’s The Last Paradise On Earth from the Faroe Islands and produced by Jón Hammer.

New films from Pepa San Martín and Golden Bear winner Adina Pintilie among the line up.

The films selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 22-26) have been revealed and top 50% by female directors in the official project selection for the first time.

Scroll down for full list of titles

A total of 36 features from 34 countries will be showcased by producers seeking co-production partners through one-to-one meetings with distributors, financiers and sales agents.

For the official project selection, 21 projects with budgets ranging from €750,000 to €5m were selected from more than 300 submissions. With 11 projects by female directors, the proportion here has exceeded 50% for the first time.

The film is the directorial debut from actor Onur Saylak.

London’s East End Film Festival has unveiled the winners from its 17th edition, with Turkish drama Daha taking home best film.

The directorial debut of Turkish actor Onur Saylak (The Blue Wave), Daha follows an unhappy teenager in a coastal Turkish town whose life is corrupted by his father’s people-trafficking business. It is an adaptation of a novel by Hakan Günday.

The award was given by a jury comprised of radio and TV host Edith Bowman, producer Dominic Buchanan, actress Ophelia Lovibond, and screenwriter and critic Kate Muir.

A celebration of genre films both old and new, the Boston Underground Film Festival returns for its 20th year later this month at Harvard Square, and the lineup is packed with new anticipated titles such as Jenn Wexler's The Ranger and Coralie Fargeat's Revenge, as well as a 35th anniversary screening of Slava Tsukerman's Liquid Sky:

Press Release: Cambridge, Ma – New England’s spring festival season is nigh, with the 20th annual Boston Underground Film Festival returning to Harvard Square, bringing with it a five day fever dream of vanguard and description-defying filmmaking, including soul- thrillers/killers/chillers, to the Brattle Theatre and Harvard Film Archive from March 21st through the 25th. This year’s program includes some of the festival’s most eclectic and challenging selections to date, highlighting the harrowing, the horrifying, and the heady.

Kicking off the big 2-0 is the East Coast...

Though it doesn't appear to have made much of an impression on the international festival circuit - though it does have a very healthy pedigree regionally - the theatrical trailer for Onur Saylak's debut feature Daha (More) has arrived and promises a gritty, engaging take on the refugee crisis. Gaza is a 14-year-old boy who lives on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Together with his domineering father, he helps smuggle refugees from war-torn countries to Europe, giving them temporary lodgings and scant food until they attempt the crossing. Gaza dreams of escaping this life, but can't help being drawn into a dark world of immorality, exploitation and human suffering. Can you avoid becoming a monster when you've been raised by one? The style here has...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

A film about a 14-year-old boy helping out his father at work in a rural outpost on the sea would probably feature gorgeous landscapes but wouldn’t necessarily make for an interesting story. But Gaza, the protagonist of the hard-hitting Turkish drama More (Daha), isn’t just any teen, and his father, involved in smuggling people from the war-torn Middle East into nearby Greece, doesn’t just have any old job. Turkish actor Onur Saylak (Autumn) makes an auspicious debut as a director here, turning Hakan Gunday’s ink-black novel of despair into a film that’s a hard sit but that suggests an awful...

The 2017 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced its 12-film competition lineup, including two films from directors who previously won the fest’s Crystal Globe award.

Read More: 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Will Honor Ken Loach, James Newton Howard and More

“Birds Are Singing in Kigali,” the last film from Polish director Krzysztof Krauze, who died in 2014, was completed by Krauze’s co-director and wife, Joanna Kos-Krauze. The film focuses on the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Krauze’s film “My Nikifor” won the Crystal Globe and the award for Best Director at the festival in 2005.

Georgian filmmaker George Ovashvili also returns to the fest with the drama “Khibula.” The film is “an archetypal story inspired by journey of the newly independent Georgia’s first president.” Ovashvili’s “Corn Island” won the Crystal Globe in 2014.

The 2017 edition of Kviff will also include Boris Khlebnikov’s new drama “Arrhythmia,” Václav Kadrnka...

The final film from Krzysztof Krauze and new project from Giorgi Ovashvili to play in main competition.Scroll Down For Competition Line-ups

The 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 - July 8) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.

Main competition

The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including Birds Are Singing In Kigali (pictured), the final film from Polish director Krzysztof Krauze, who died in 2014.

The project, which depicts the consequences of the Rwandan genocide, was completed by his co-director and wife Joanna Kos-Krauze.

Other films in competition include Boris Khlebnikov’s new drama Arrhythmia, Václav Kadrnka’s Little Crusader, Peter Bebjak’s criminal thriller The Line and Giorgi Ovashvili’s Georgian historical drama Khibula. Ovashvili returns after winning the Kviff Crystal Globe for Corn Island in 2014.

East of the West

The East of the West strand will open with Ilgar Najaf...

The final film from Krzysztof Krauze and new project from Giorgi Ovashvili to play in main competition.Scroll Down For Competition Line-ups

The 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 - July 8) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.

Main competition

The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including Birds Are Singing In Kigali (pictured), the final film from Polish director Krzysztof Krauze, who died in 2014.

The project, which depicts the consequences of the Rwandan genocide, was completed by his co-director and wife Joanna Kos-Krauze.

Other films in competition include Boris Khlebnikov’s new drama Arrhythmia, Václav Kadrnka’s Little Crusader, Peter Bebjak’s criminal thriller The Line and Giorgi Ovashvili’s Georgian historical drama Khibula. Ovashvili returns after winning the Kviff Crystal Globe for Corn Island in 2014.

East of the West

The East of the West strand will open with Ilgar Najaf...

Ten projects from South-East Europe, Middle East and North Africa comprise Sarajevo’s Work in Progress section.

Sarajevo Film Festival’s (Aug 12-20) Works in Progress strand is set to present the line-up of projects, which will compete for three awards during the festival’s Industry Days on Aug 17-18.

Ten projects in post-production - from Southeast Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Caucasus region - will be screened to about 40 industry decision-makers who are active on the supply end of the chain: funders, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and festival programmers.

Prizes will include the traditional post-production in-kind awards from Slovenia’s Restart (€20,000) and Berlin-based The Post Republic (€50,000), as well as a newly established €30,000 cash prize from Turkish broadcaster Trt.

The jury is comprised of Jan Naszewski of New Europe Film Sales, Giona A. Nazzaro from the Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week, Michael Reuter of The Post Republic and a representative from the Trt.[p...

Ten projects from South-East Europe, Middle East and North Africa will compete for industry awards.

Sarajevo Film Festival’s (Aug 12-20) Works in Progress strand has revealed the line-up of projects which will compete for three awards during the festival’s Industry Days on Aug 17 and 18.

Prizes will include the traditional post-production in-kind awards from Slovenia’s Restart (€20,000) and Berlin-based The Post Republic (€50,000), as well as a newly established €30,000 cash prize from Turkish broadcaster Trt.

The jury is comprised of Jan Naszewski of New Europe Film Sales, Giona A. Nazzaro from the Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week, Michael Reuter of The Post Republic and a representative from the Trt.

The projects will be presented to funders, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and festival programmers, including representatives of Bankside Films, the Berlin International Film Festival, Bir Film, Celluloid Dreams, Coproduction Office, the Directors’ Fortnight, Elle Driver, the Festival de Cannes, Indie Sales, Lumiere, The Match...

Kurdish workers drama and Rodrigo Plá’s A Monster With a Thousand Heads triumph at festival; industry prizes revealed.

Dust Cloth by Turkish director Ahu Öztürk and A Monster With a Thousand Heads by Mexican director Rodrigo Plá were among big winners at the Istanbul Film Festival.

Dust Cloth about two Kurdish cleaning ladies struggling to make ends meet in Istanbul took home the Golden Tulip Prize in the National Competition in a jury headed by Turkish actress Müjde Ar. The film also won awards for Best Actress for Asiye Cinçsoy and Best Screenplay.

The other big winner was Cold Of Kalandar, which won Best Director for Mustafa Kara, best cinematography by co-cinematographers Cavanhir Sahin and Kürsat Üresin, as well as Best actor, which was awarded to Haydar Sisman.

In the International Competition, presided over by Argentinean director Pablo Trapero, the Golden Tulip was awarded to Pla’s A Monster with a Thousand Heads. The sleek thriller...