Organized for the 42nd time this year by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, the "Istanbul Film Festival" started with the opening ceremony at the Süreyya Opera House.
Expressing that they are happy to be opening at Süreyya Opera, Festival director Kerem Ayan said, "We started this year sadly due to the disasters we experienced, but I hope everything will go better from now on. We are starting our festival with the hope of that."
Noting that the festival's film screenings will be held in 6 halls, Ayan stated that this year, 9 films will meet with the audience in the William Friedkin retrospective section.
At the opening, the first of the "Cinema Honor Award" was presented to actor Kayhan Yıldızoğlu. Yıldızoğlu could not attend the ceremony night but his granddaughter Zeynep Aybar received the award.
The second "Cinema Honor Award" of the festival was presented to Nevra Serezli, who made a name for herself with her performances in movies and TV series, as well as her successes as a dubbing artist.
Serezli, who received the award from the actor Metin Akpınar, said, "It was really a big surprise, I wouldn't be so happy if Brad Pitt came. Receiving an Honorary Award is a very valuable thing. But receiving it from Metin Akpınar is something very different. Being able to play with Metin and Zeki is something everyone would like. I learned a lot from them on stage. İKSV has been contributing to art for 50 years, but I am older than them. Receiving an award on behalf of cinema also made me happy.”
At the opening ceremony of the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival, hosted by Ali İhsan Varol, in addition to the Festival's Cinema Honorary Awards, plaques of appreciation were presented to institutions and organizations that contributed to the festival.
After the ceremony, "Scrapper" directed by Charlotte Regan, which won the "Grand Jury Award" in the "World Cinema" drama category at the Sundance Film Festival, was screened.
During the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival, 134 feature films and 29 short films by 160 directors from 84 countries will be screened in 14 sections over 12 days.
Quality and award-winning films, star actors and master directors from Turkey and world cinema will come together with the festival followers until 18 April.