The Meetings on the Bridge, organised as part of the 34th Istanbul Film Festival on 11-17 April 2015 with the support of Anadolu Efes, brings filmmakers from Turkey together with professionals from the international market.

The projects and films chosen for the Film Project Development Workshop and Work in Progress Workshop of the Meetings on the Bridge, where feature film and documentary projects, as well as films in production stage, will receive their first international presentation, were announced. Following the workshops on 15-16 April, there will be an award ceremony on Thursday, 16 April to present the awards to those projects and films selected by the international jury.

The awards to be granted to the selected projects from the Film Project Development Workshop are Turkey Ministry of Tourism and Culture Support Award of 10,000$, Melodika Sound Post-Production Award, French National Cinema Centre (CNC) Support Award of 10.000€, and Mediterranean Film Industry (MFI) Script Workshop Award. The awards to be granted to the producers of the selected films from the Work in Progress Workshop are Color-ist Award, Başka Sinema Award, and the Efes Award of 10,000$.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this edition, the Meetings on the Bridge has helped in the completion of 30 film projects and raised a funding of nearly 430.000€ for 36 different projects since its inception in 2006. Within the scope of the Meetings on the Bridge, the Turkey-Germany Co-Production Development Fund will also continue to support various projects.

The Meetings on the Bridge will also host free panels at the Akbank Sanat, open to all film professionals and cinephiles, on 12-17 April 2015. Script consultant Anita Voorham, project consultant Tobias Pausinger, Israel Film Fund Executive Director and producer Katriel Schory, “Everyday Rebellion”s director and producer Arash T. Riahi, Marketing Director Xristina Pelekani, and Publicity and Marketing Director Tuğçe Taçkın, among many others will be speakers in these panels. You can find more information on the panels at http://film.iksv.org/en/meetingsonthebridge and email onthebridge@iksv.org for participation.

Film Project Development Workshop

The selection committee selected 8 fiction and 2 documentary projects out of the 120 applications for the Meetings on the Bridge Film Project Development Workshop. The producers, directors, and screenwriters of those projects selected for the first time this year received training by international trainers and filmmakers before the workshop started.

The projects chosen for the Film Project Development Workshop

• Anons / The Announcement - Director Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun, Producer Halil Kardaş (fiction)
• Av / The Hunt - Director Emre Akay, Producers Emre Akay, Tolga Topçu, Chad Öztürk (fiction)
• Bir Baba ve Oğlun Ölümü / The Death of Father and Son - Director Zekeriya Aydoğan, Producer Erhan Örs (fiction)
• Çarpık Ev / The Crooked House - Director Sinem Sakaoğlu, Producer Çiğdem Mater) (fiction)
• Hafiye / The Detective - Director Mehmet Sait Korkut, Producer Çekdar Erkıran (fiction)
• Hayatı Beklerken / Waiting for Life – Director Ayşe Toprak Producer Cem Doruk (documentary)
• Herşey O.K / Everything’s O.K – Director Theron Patterson Producer Armağan Lale (fiction)
• Iguana Tokyo - Director Kaan Müjdeci, Producer Yasin Müjdeci, Nazlı Kilerci (fiction)
• Nebula / Death Horse Nebula - Director Tarık Aktaş, Producer Güneş Şekeroğlu (fiction)
• Yanlama / Ghetto Drift – Director and producer Dağhan Celayir (documentary)

Work in Progress Workshop

The selection committee selected 4 fiction and 1 documentary films out of the 18 submissions for the workshop in its fourth edition, which aims to support feature films and documentaries in their post-production stage.

The projects chosen for the Work in Progress Workshop:

• Ben Apaçi Değilim / I Am not Apache - Director Aytunç Akad, Producers Cahit Binici, Onur Koçak (İkinci Parti Prodüksiyon)

• Gizli / The Hidden – Director Ali Kemal Çınar, Producer Çekdar Erkıran (Layen Film)

• Kadir ve Kardeşleri / Frenzy - Director Emin Alper, Producers Nadir Öperli, Enis Köstepen, Cem Doruk (Liman Film)

•Mavi Bisiklet / Blue Bicycle - Director Ümit Köreken, Producer Nursen Çetin Köreken (Drama Film Prodüksiyon),
Co-producer Leontine Petit (Hamster Film)

• Toz Bezi / Dust Cloth - Director Ahu Öztürk, Producers Nesra Gürbüz, Çiğdem Mater (Ret Film), Co- producers Marie Gutmann (Meroe Film), Stefan Gieren (Storybay)