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İzmir regaining its international film festival after 11-year break
The festival, last held in 2000, is returning in April with a week-long program, Turkish news agencies reported this week.
A protocol overseeing the collaboration between the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and Dokuz Eylül University (DEÜ) in organizing the festival was signed on Tuesday, the Anatolia news agency reported. The protocol’s signing officially kick-started the preparation process for the revived festival.
First held in 1989, the İzmir International Film Festival was held for 11 years in a row until 2000, when numerous reasons caused the event to be shelved indefinitely. It wasn’t until 2011, when DEÜ insisted the festival be put back to the city’s cultural agenda, that the event was remembered by local authorities.
İzmir Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu told reporters after signing the protocol at the İzmir Sanat cultural center on Tuesday that the municipality had decided to back DEÜ’s initiative to revive the festival since they believe that “cultural events are of equal importance as other kinds of [civic] projects for a city to promote on an international level.”
Noting that he hoped that an international film festival in İzmir would contribute to the city’s international reputation during its official candidacy to host the EXPO 2020 world fair, the mayor said the municipality was “ready to give all the support it can for the festival to carry on, improve and become a key entry in [Turkey’s] cultural sphere.”
“Cultural events cannot become truly international without support from universities, ministries and [other] state [institutions],” Kocaoğlu added.
The 12th İzmir International Film Festival is scheduled to run from April 21-28. The festival’s program is expected to include one competitive section for national feature films, another competition for short films, a selection of titles from world cinema, as well as cinema workshops, exhibitions and talks with filmmakers.
For updates, check the festival’s website at www.izmirfilmfest.com.
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