Having kicked off with the slogan #AgainstAllOdds on October 23, Bosphorus Film Lab, the industry section of 8^th Bosphorus Film Festival had its first day brimming with events!

Organized by Bosphorus Culture & Art Foundation with the contribution of Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cinema, and support of Global Communication Partner; Anadolu Agency, 8^th Bosphorus Film Festival – to continue until October 30 – brought outstanding guests to the participants at an online platform at the first day of Bosphorus Film Lab.

“Metin Akdulger” at Bosphorus Film Lab

First live video talk of October 24, Saturday was realized at the festival’s Instagram account with the attendance of the successful actor Metin Akdulger. Arousing high interest, live video had Akdulger answer Bosphorus Film Lab director Ipek Tugay’s questions.

Expressing his passion for independent cinema, Akdulger shared his experiences as well as his thoughts on short and feature films, and on film festivals and digital platforms. Also, he mentioned that what he likes most about film festivals is how a group of people gathering around a certain task show respect to each other and to their stories.

And regarding Bosphorus Film Lab director Ipek Tugay’s question “What is your opinion on short films?”, he specified that he feels close to short films, something that he cannot make sense. He also emphasized that he thinks short films are proper for new media.

Film’s Journey was Discussed at the Panel Talk “From the Production to Distribution”

Another Bosphorus Film Lab event was the panel talk From the Production to Distribution under the moderation of producer Muge Ozen, and with the participation of Ersan Congar; General Manager of Bir Film and Baska Sinema, Faruk Guven; TRT Co-productions and Foreign Productions Manager and Orhan Tasdemir; Film Finance and Distribution Director of TME.

“TRT 12 Punto is not only a Support Platform, but Also a Partnership”

First speaker of the panel talk was Faruk Guven; TRT Co-productions and Foreign Productions Manager and he gave information on TRT 12 Punto platform. Emphasizing that TRT 12 Punto is not only a support platform, but also a partnership in a sense, Guven said “TRT 12 Punto has a systematic order with the applications made through Internet. Evaluated by an independent jury, the projects afterwards go through certain consultation processes and then as determined by the international jury, they progress with co-production or pre-purchase processes.”

 “Biggest Problem of the Film Industry is that it Fails to Establish its Own Capital”

And Orhan Tasdemir; Film Finance and Distribution Director of TME talked about the financing in cinema to be transferred to the films. Mentioning that Turkey still lacks an institutional structure that consistently invests in cinema, Tasdemir emphasized that industry is in a constant need to find financing from the external resources. “The biggest problem of our industry is that it fails to establish its own capital. Another problem is lack of growth for the last five years. Regarding the investment costs and the audience costs per theatre, the investment costs have increased. And the money gained by the filmmakers have decreased. In this sense, we have a financing deficit,” said Tasdemir and mentioned that consequently, distributors started to consider profitability when selecting films.

 “TV Channels Should Save Some of the Series Budgets to Films”

Ersan Congar; General Manager of Bir Film and Baska Sinema also talked about the costs of film production. Specifying that there are no major support mechanisms except for Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism and TRT, Congar said that TV channels should save some of the series budgets to films. Emphasizing additionally that releasing films is not an independent process, Congar said “Movie theatres require films.”

Bosphorus Film Lab events on October 25, Sunday

Bosphorus Film Lab, industry section of the festival will continue tomorrow to bring at the online platforms current and noteworthy topics to the participants accompanied with the film professionals. First event of October 25, Sunday will be realized at the festival’s Instagram account. Between 14.00-15.00, producer Zeynep Atakan as the guest of the live video will be answering Bosphorus Film Lab director Ipek Tugay’s questions.

Another Bosphorus Film Lab event to be held between 16.00-17.00 is Cycle of Content in TV and Digital, under the moderation of Prof. Dr. Arzu Ozturkmen from Bosphorus University, department of History and with the participation of producer Yamac Okur, BluTV Dramas Manager Sarp Kalfaoglu, producer & CEO of OGM, Onur Guvenatam and TRT 1 Channel Coordinator Cemil Yavuz. Participants can access the event from the Zoom link present at www.bogazicifilmfestivali.com as well as on Bosphorus Film Festival’s official Youtube channel.

Participants can access Bosphorus Film Lab events and detailed information on the projects at the catalogue present under the tab Bosphorus Film Lab at www.bogazicifilmfestivali.com.