MOTHERING
MADARI
Iran, 2017, DCP, Color, 84’, International Feature Film Competition, Persian with English,Turkish subtitles

Director: Roqiye Tavakoli
Screenplay: Roqiye Tavakoli
Cinematography: Morteza Gheidi
Editing: Hayedeh Safiyari
Music: Sattar Oraki
Cast: Nazanin Bayati, Houman Seyedi, Hanieh Tavassoli, Melisa Zakeri
Producer: Siyavash Haghighi
Production Company: Aseman Honar Development Co.
World Sales: Farabi Cinema Foundation

Two sisters who live in Yazd, a city located in the deserts of Iran… One of the sisters has abandoned her love and the other one has been abandoned by hers… Gülnar and her sister Nava live with their mother and Gülnar’s little daughter. Nava mothers her niece while her sister and her brother-in-law go through an intense time during their divorce process. Nava struggles for the life of her niece, her sister and her brother-in-law while coping with the pain of being left by the man she loves. She neglects herself while struggling for the happiness of her loved ones.

Director
Born in 1985 in Yazd, Roqiye Tavakoli received her bachelor’s degree in Cinema and master’s degree in Dramatic Literature from Sooreh University in Tehran. She is an instructor and head of department at Yazd Art and Culture University. Tavakoli is a member of the Iranian Short Film Association in Khaneh Cinema. She has made over 30 short and documentary films presented and acclaimed in over 50 local and international film festivals, and won awards at film festivals such as Armenia International Women’s Film Festival Kin, Dubai Ibda Awards, Royesh Film Festival, Parvin Etesami Film Festival.

CENTAUR
Kyrgyzstan France Germany Netherlands, 2017, DCP, Color, 89’, International Feature Film Competition, Kyrgyz with Turkish English subtitles

Director: Aktan Arym Kubat
Screenplay: Aktan Arym Kubat, Ernest Abdyjaparov
Cinematography: Khassan Kydyraliev
Editing: Petar Markovic
Music: Andre Matthias
Cast: Aktan Arym Kubat, Nuraly Tursunkojoev, Zarema Asanalieva, Taalaikan Abazova, Ilim Kalmuratov, Bolot Tentimyshov, Maksat Mamyrkanov
Producer: Altynai Koichumanova, Cedomir Kolar, Thanassis Karathanos, Marc Baschet, Denis Vaslin
Production Company: A.S.A.P. Films, Pallas Film, Volya Films
World Sales: The Match Factory GmbH

Centaur is a quiet, small and modest man, a loving father of a little boy that has never spoken a word and the husband of young, deaf-mute Maripa. Together they lead a simple life in a small village of Kyrgyzstan. Centaur is above all a respected man among his neighbours, but he has a belief deeply rooted inside him. He still believes that Kyrgyz people once united and invincible, thanks to their horses, have been punished by Heavens for misusing that power to achieve their mercenary goals. Beyond any suspicion, Centaur becomes a horse thief, as he thinks only a genuine racer riding at night and praying for forgiveness can write off the curse. But his wellhidden secret cannot be kept for long.

Director
Born in Kyrgyzstan in 1957, he is also known as Aktan Abdykalykov. After graduating from the Art Academy in Bishkek, he first worked as a production designer and directed several short films before making his feature debut in 1998 with Beshkempir (The Adopted Son). The film won several prizes including the Silver Leopard at Locarno. Maimyl (The Chimp) and Svet-Ake (The Light Thief) were screened at international festivals including Cannes and won numerous awards. Centaur is his sixth feature film

GRAIN
Turkey Germany France Sweden Qatar, 2017, DCP, 127’, International Feature Film Competition, English with Turkish subtitles

Director: Semih Kaplanoğlu
Screenplay: Semih Kaplanoğlu, Leyla İpekçi
Cinematography: Giles Nuttgens BSC
Editing: Semih Kaplanoğlu, Osman Bayraktaroğlu, Ayhan Ergürsel
Music: Mustafa Biber
Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Ermin Bravo, Grigory Dobrygin, Cristina Flutur
Producer: Semih Kaplanoğlu, Nadir Öperli
Production Company: Kaplan Film Production
World Sales: Match Factory

In an indefinite near future, life on Earth has been driven to brink of extinction following an abrupt climate change. And in the new world with redrawn borders, immigrants are kept at the camps, waiting to be transferred to the cities protected with magnetic walls. Meanwhile, chaos erupts as the sustainability of genetically modified seeds remains uncertain. Two men’s paths cross in Dead Lands; secluded Cemil and Professor Erol Erin, a seed genetics specialist. Their journey in quest of the seeds to be grown will change Erol’s whole acquired knowledge…

Director
Born in Izmir in 1963. He studied film at Dokuz Eylül University. His feature debut “Away from Home” (2001) received wide recognition. “Angel’s Fall” won several awards following its premiere at Forum, Berlinale 2005. He directed The Yusuf Trilogy: ”Egg”, “Milk” and “Honey.” In 2010, Honey won the Golden Bear in Berlin.
Semih

MORE
Turkey, 2017, DCP, Color, 115’, International Feature Film Competition, Turkish, Arabic with English subtitles

Director: Onur Saylak
Screenplay: Hakan Günday, Onur Saylak, Doğu Yaşar Akal (Hakan Günday’ın Daha romanından/ Adapted from the novel of the same name by Hakan Günday)
Cinematography: Feza Çaldıran
Editing: Ali Aga Müzik Music: Uygur Yiğit
Cast: Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Hayat Van Eck, Turgut Tunçalp, Tankut Yıldız, Tuba Büyüküstün, Kaan Uluca, Ahmet Melih Yılmaz, Uğur Aslan, Lara Aysal, Pervin Bağdat
Producer: Kerem Çatay, Ziya Cemre Kutluay
Production Company: Ay Yapım, BİT Yapım
World Sales: Heretic

Adapted from the award-winning novel of the same name by Hakan Günday, which has been translated into more than 7 languages worldwide, “Daha” is the gripping story of a boy that gets to grow up in a world where there’s no room for innocence. Gaza is a 14-year-old boy who lives on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Together with his domineering father, he helps smuggle refugees to Europe, giving them temporary shelter and scant food until they attempt their crossing. Gaza dreams of escaping this life of crime, but can’t help being drawn into a dark world of immorality, exploitation and human suffering

Director
Born in 1977, in Ankara. Onur Saylak is an actor and director. He started his cinema career as an actor by playing the character the “Yusuf” character in “Autumn”, which won the Best Picture Award at the 15th Golden Boll Film Festival. Following the national and international achievements of Autumn, Onur Saylak continued his acting career in cinema and made his directorial debut with the short film, The Jungle. His feature film “More” has premiered at Karlovy Vary IFF.

DEDE
Georgia Qatar Ireland Netherlands Croatia, 2017, DCP, Color, 97’,  International Feature Film Competition Georgian with Turkish and English subtitles

Director: Mariam Khatchvani
Screenplay: Mariam Khatchvani, Vladimer Katcharava, Irakli Solomanashvili
Cinematography: Konstantin Mindia Esadze
Editing: Levan Kukhashvili
Music: Tako Jordania, Mate Chamgeliani
Cast: George Babluani, Natia Vibliani, Girshel Chelidze, Nukri Khatchvani, Spartak Parjiani, Sofia Charkviani, Mose Khatchvani
Producer: Vladimer Katcharava
Production Company: 20 Steps Productions
World Sales: WIDE

It’s the year 1992. Young Dina lives in a remote mountain village where life is strictly governed by centuries of tradition. Dina’s grandfather has promised her to David, who is returning from the war. But with him comes a comrade-in-arms, the handsome Gegi, and Dina falls in love. Is it possible to defy the firmly established order?

Director
Writer / Director Mariam Khatchvani was born in Ushguli, Svanati and studied film directing at the Shota Rustaveli State Film University. She has directed numerous documentaries, including ‘Verdzoba’ (2006), ‘Beyond the Window’ (2007) and ‘Lichanishi and Kvirikoba’ (2009). In 2013, Mariam made her short film Dinola. Funded by the Georgian National Film Centre, the film gained huge success and was screened at over 40 film festivals. Dede is her first feature film which was selected for the East of the West Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

LIFE AND NOTHING MORE
Spain USA, 2017, DCP, Color, 113’,  International Feature Film Competition, English with Turkish subtitles

Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza
Screenplay: Antonio Méndez Esparza
Cinematography: Barbu Balasiou
Editing: Santiago Oviedo
Cast: Andrew Bleechington, Regina Williams, Robert Williams, Ry’nesia Chambers
Producer: Pedro Hernández Santos
Production Company: Aquí Y Allí Films
World Sales: Film Constellation

Standing on the edge of adulthood, Andrew yearns to find his purpose as a young African-American in today’s America. With his mother longing to find more to her life then parenting, Andrew is forced to take on the mounting pressure of family responsibility. His search for connection with an absent father, leads him to a dangerous crossroads.

Director
Antonio Méndez Esparza was born in Madrid, and studied Law at the university. However, he developed his entire professional career in the USA. He spent a total of 12 years studying and working in the USA before returning to Spain in 2011. In 2009, Esparza finished his latest short film, Una Y Otra Vez, which won numerous awards, and received an Academy Award nomination. His first feature film, Aquí y Allá (2012), premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 where it won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize Award. He has been teaching film at Florida State University since 2013. Life and Nothing More is his second feature and first English language film

BLUE SILENCE
Turkey Belgium, 2017, DCP,Color, 93’, International Feature Film Competition, Turkish with English subtitles

Director: Bülent Öztürk
Screenplay: Bülent Öztürk
Cinematography: A. Emre Tanyıldız
Editing: David Verdurme
Music: Michelino Bisceglia
Cast: Teoman Kumbaracıbaşı, Roda Canıoğlu, Korkmaz Arslan
Producer: Tomas Leyers
Production Company: Minds Meet, Bantof Film
World Sales: Minds Meet

Hakan, a 42 year old soldier, is recovering in a severe military psychiatric hospital. With the gentle help of nurse Ayla, he fights his nightmares. Rewarded with a medal of honor and some money, Hakan is discharged. Arriving at his deserted apartment, memories of an absent family flood his heart. The quest for his daughter, Melis, confronts him with his troubling past. Lost and lonely, he wanders the streets of Istanbul. An unexpected visit of Ayla sparks off his journey to Sinan, his ex-companion with whom he served before. Will this encounter help Hakan to get a grip on his troubled past?

Director
Bülent Öztürk is born in 1975 in Bağlarbaşı, a small Kurdish village in Southeast Turkey, in a family of thirteen children. He flees to Antwerp (Belgium) as a political refugee. He received his master’s degree in film directing & audiovisual arts from the RITS in Brussels. He directed two documentaries: the critical ‘Zaman Zaman, Talking Stones of Bakacik’, and the poetic documentary “Beklemek/Waiting.” He made two short films, “Si / Gölge / Shadow”, and “Houses with Small Windows / Küçük Pencereli Evler”, which won the Best European Short Film Award at the 2013 Venice Film Festival, and was nominated for the 26th European Film Awards in Berlin. “Blue Silence” is his debut feature

POMEGRANATE ORCHARD
Azerbaijan, 2017, DCP, Color, 90’,  International Feature Film Competition Azerbaijan, Russian with English, Turkish subtitles

Director: Ilgar Najaf
Screenplay: Asif Rustamov, Ilgar Najaf, Roelof Yan Minneboo inspired by The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
Cinematography: Ayhan Salar
Editing: Elmir Hasanov
Music: Firuddin Allahverdi
Cast: Ilahe Hasanova, Semimi Farhad, Gurban Ismayilov, Hesen Aghayev
Producer: Mushfug Hatamov, Ilgar Najaf
Production Company: Azerbaijanfilm
World Sales: Buta Film

Written by one of Azerbaijani cinema’s young and successful directors, Asif Rustamov, and directed by Ilgar Najaf, Pomegranate Orchard is a loose adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. While the film focuses on the troubles and the sorrow derived by the reunion of a shattered family, the pastoral beauty of the film location is reflected through Ayhan Salar’s camera. Gabil has started a new life in Russia, and his unexpected return after a 12-year absence unsettles the life of his aging father Shamil, his wife Sara and his son Celal who live off their pomegranate orchard. Reflecting the conflicts and contradictions between modernity and tradition, urban and rural life through an elegant style and humanistic approach, Pomegranate Orchard urges the audience to contemplate the family concept. Alin Taşçıyan

Director
Ilgar Najaf (b. 1975, Armenia, USSR), He studied film and TV direction at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. He began as a documentarist, turning out Shacks without Shades (Kölgesiz komalar, 2000) and There Exists an Old Man (Bir qoca var…, 2002) His feature film debut Buta (2011) won awards at several festivals.

PELA JANELA – A WINDOW TO ROSÁLIA
Brazil Argentina, 2017, DCP, Color, 84’, International Feature Film Competition Spanish, Portuguese with Turkish subtitles

Director: Caroline Leone
Screenplay: Caroline Leone
Yönetmeni Cinematography: Claudio Leone
Editing: Anita Ramón, Caroline Leone
Music: Martin Grignaschi
Cast: Cacá Amaral, Magali Biff
Producer: Sara Silveira, Dezenove Som e Imagens, Maria Ionescu, Dezenove Som e Imagens, Hernán Musaluppi, Rizoma Films, Natacha Cervi, Rizoma Films
Production Company: Dezenove Som e Imagens, Rizoma Films
World Sales: Dezenove Som e Imagens

An understated, delicately calibrated view into the life of a 63-year-old woman just laid off from her factory job in São Paulo, “A Window to Rosália” never pushes but gives quite a bit, focusing on the character’s initial depression and then, slowly, on an opening into a new life. Rosália’s sadness isn’t completely gone, and her future remains uncertain, but by the film’s end, audiences sense that she’ll recover her equilibrium and, who knows, open herself up a bit more to life’s enjoyments. Even the film’s titles have a restrained yet poetic ring: And by using “window” rather than “door,” the director acknowledges a more hesitant opening that Rosália passes through. Jay Weissberg, Variety, February 7, 2017

Director
Caroline Leone was born in São Paulo, Brasil in 1981. She wrote and directed two worldwide recognized and awarded short films. Joyce also won several awards, one of the most important ones being the Best Film Award at the 2007 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival and the Best Director Award at the 2007 International Women’s Film Festival/ FEMINA. She also won the FIPRESCI Award at Rotterdam International Film Festival with “A Window to Rosália.”

Ο ΓΙΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΣΟΦΊΑΣ
SON OF SOFIA
Greece France Bulgaria, 2017, DCP, Color , 111’, International Feature Film Competition, Greek-Russian with English-Turkish subtitles

Director: Elina Psikou
Screenplay: Elina Psikou
Cinematography: Dionysis Efthimiopoulos
Editing: Nelly Ollivault Müzik Music: Nassos Sopilis
Cast: Viktor Khomut, Valery Tcheplanowa, Thanasis Papageorgiou, Artemis Havalits, Christos Stergioglou, Iro Maltezou
Producer: Giorgos Karnavas, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
Production Company: Heretic
World Sales: Heretic Outreach

The film world-premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Best International Narrative Feature Award. It focuses on the story of a boy who’s trying to adapt to a new family and a new country. Athens, 2004 summer Olympic Games. 11-year-old Misha arrives from Russia to live with his mother, Sofia. What he doesn’t know is that there is a father waiting for him there. While Greece is living the Olympic dream, Misha will get violently catapulted into the adult world, riding on the dark side of his favorite fairy tales.

Director
Born on 8 March 1977 in Athens, Greece. She studied film directing at Lykourgos Stavrakos Film School, and sociology at Panteion University in Athens. She then studied cultural history at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. In 2007, she participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus. “I Aionia Epistrofi Tou Antoni Pareskeua” is her feature debut. Son of Sofia is Elina Psykou’s second feature. Her debut, The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2013 and, later that same year, Psykou was named one of the 10 European directors to watch by Variety.

CARGO
Belgium The Netherlands France, 2017, DCP, Color, 91’, International Feature Film Competition, Dutch, French with English, Turkish subtitles

Director: Gilles Coulier
Screenplay: Gilles Coulier, Tom Dupont
Cinematography: David Williamson
Editing: Tom Denoyette Müzik Music: Liesa Van der Aa
Cast: Sam Louwyck, Wim Willaert, Sebastien Dewaele, Chiel Van de Vyvere, Roland Van Campenhout, Josse De Pauw
Producer: Gilles Coulier, Gilles De Schryver, Wouter Sap
Production Company: De Wereldvrede
World Sales: Wide Management

Cargo is a story about how desperation can bring a family to the edge of destruction. In the cold waters of the North Sea, Leon Broucke falls overboard his fishing boat right before the eyes of his eldest son, Jean. The old man slips into a deep coma, leaving his son behind with a huge debt and the responsibility of the family business. The absence of his father sets off an aftershock of conflicts between him and his two brothers. Francis is torn between his family and leaving with his secret lover. William returns home to escape his life of crime, and redeem himself. Desperate to build a future for his 8-year-old son, Jean turns to his brother’s criminal past.

Director
Gilles Coulier is a Belgian director, producer, scriptwriter and co-founder of De Wereldvrede. His short films were selected for numerous film festivals around the world. In 2014, Coulier completed the fiction series ‘Bevergem’ for CANVAS, and finished his first feature Film, ‘Cargo’ in 2017. Both projects were produced by De Wereldvrede. He’s currently in post-production of a second series, De Dag, for VIER.