Greetings,
After a year of preparations, the 4th International Bursa Silk Road Film Festival will take place between14th – 22nd November 2009.Our aim is to bring the art of cinema to Bursa, a big city of industrial development; to present new Turkish and foreign films alongside classics of cinema history; and to create a rich festival experience with many side events like exhibitions, panels and other activities.
We believe that the enthusiasm of the public of Bursa about film screenings, foreign and local guests, talk sessions in cinema theatres, exhibitions, workshops, film courses and panels that we’ve happily observed in the past few years will continue to grow this year. Future filmmakers of Bursa have been showing a great deal of interest in the free film courses and workshops in previous festivals. We have been extremely pleased with the involvement of the local youth, and we will host many new filmmakers and film scholars this year in similar activities.The International Golden Karagöz Feature Film Competition, which we have been holding since the second year of the festival, will take place again this year, and bring together a diverse line up of films by first-time directors from all over the world.It is very pleasing to see the rapid development of Turkish cinema and to see addition of new names to the roster every year. We are looking forward to offer many films by Turkish masters and newcomers in the 2009 National Golden Karagöz Feature Film Competition, which was held for the first time in last year’s festival.
After two thousand years of commercial contact between Europe and Asia over the Silk Road, the city of Bursa, as one of the most important connection posts of this route, is becoming the hub of significant cultural exchange with the International Bursa Silk Road Film Festival. For this reason, we take careful attention to include examples from countries that are on this symbolic route, from Kazakhstan and Syria to Uzbekistan and Iran. We will remember many important figures of Turkish cinema again this year, who have made great contributions to our country’s cinema with their performances and work, by giving Honorary Awards and Labour Awards. We will also have biographical publications again this year, which we have prepared to leave behind a record of history for the posterity. These publications feature film stills and images from the personal archives of the Honorary Award laureates, alongside personal anecdotes.While we present well-known directors of the world cinema in the “Panorama” section, we aim to introduce children to the festival culture at an early age with the films in the “Children’s Caravan” section, which are selected to spark their imagination and contribute to their personal and cultural development. In the “Films Without Barriers” section, a technique that allows blind people to watch films is brought to Turkey. The National and International Golden Karagöz Short Film Competitions aim to support and promote production of short films, while the “Non-Dialogue” concept strives to remove language barriers and rely only on the visual language of the cinema. Moreover, Non-Competition Shorts are also offered. Documentary filmmaking has been enjoying a rise all over the world in recent years. We included many foreign and local examples of this trend in this year’s festival, as we have done in the past. As usual, we are taking the International Bursa Silk Road Film Festival out of cinema theatres and spreading it all over Bursa, with exhibitions, panels, workshops and film courses.
Finally, we would like to thank the Bursa Municipality for making the festival possible; Recep Altepe, the Mayor of Bursa and our Honorary President, for his support; Rıfat Bakan, Bursa Culture General Manager; our Festival Consultants Board, who have helped us immensely; all media organs that have promoted the festival; the festival-goers who have supported us; and the festival team who have worked laboriously over the year to prepare this event. I look forward to sharing the excitement of this festival with you once more.
Unfortunately, we were shocked to receive sad news two days before the festival. Hikmet Şahin, one of the founders of the festival, whom we had presented our festival project to, had passed away. I wish him to rest in peace. People are remembered by what they leave behind, and the greatness of their legacy helps us remember. This festival is one of the many great works the late Hikmet Şahin has done in his life. I hope his work will continue for many years. May he rest in peace, and I pay my condolences to his family, loved ones and the Bursa public.
See you at the festival...
Ali Çalışır
Festival Director