Istanbul International Film Festival 2012

Abstract

ISTANBUL 2012 April was the cruellest month of the year for Istanbul this spring, with incessant rains and cold weather, which increased the attendance figures at the cinemas. The festival (31 March-15 April, 2012) celebrated its 31st anniversary with an eclectic program of features and documentaries, relying heavily on European products as customary, except for a martial arts package, the Chinese wuxia films. Due to its belated date in the festival calendar, Istanbul suffers from paucity of new films, but it is a feast for the local cinephiles with its wide spectrum of selections including feature films of the year, classics, masterpieces from masters, festival favorites, National Golden Tulip, International Golden Tulip and FACE Human Rights Competitions, documentaries, and children’s movies. This year’s additions were Cinema and Music, Filming Revolution, What’s Happening in Greece?, Within the Family and a 15-hour special view of Mark Cousins’s The Story of Film: An...