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Festival coverage

Istanbul Film Festival

6 April – 17 April 2018

The 37th edition of the festival runs from April 6 to 17. The festival hosts 198 feature films, as well as 12 short films, in 18 different categories, and in addition to the screening of a total of 210 films by 218 directors from 43 countries, there will be Q&As and festival talks with guest filmmakers, concerts, and other special events. Golden Tulips are presented to the winners in the International and National Competition sections.

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Infinite Football
    Review preview for Infinite Football

    Infinite Football is a film about outsiders and feeling on the fringe of society

    John-Anthony Disotto · 3 out of 5
    Documentary about ex-footballer Laurentiu Ginghina's opinions on the game.
  • Transit
    Review preview for Transit

    Time and place hold both no and every meaning in Christian Petzold's latest film.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Georg flees to Marseilles to escape the German army. Assuming a false identity, he tries to obtain passage on a ship bound for Mexico. But then he meets Marie and his plans change.
  • Euthanizer
    Review preview for Euthanizer

    As an anti-hero Veijo is up there, thanks in no small part to Onnismaa's performance.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Black comedy about a man who puts animals to sleep... and begins to do the same 'favour' for the owners.
  • Styx
    Review preview for Styx

    There's a strong sense of isolation from the start in Fisher's film.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A storm in the middle of the ocean, a boat full of refugees that is about to sink and a woman all by herself...
  • Piercing
    Review preview for Piercing

    Without a doubt, Pesce is one of the most exciting young directors to emerge in recent years.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A man seeks out an unsuspecting stranger to help him purge the dark torments of his past. His plan goes awry when he encounters a woman with plans of her own. A playful psycho-thriller game of cat-and-mouse.
  • Pig
    Review preview for Pig

    There is satire here but this the director takes a jokes first, social comment second approach.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker, starts to sulk when he isn't bumped off by a serial killer.
  • Ava
    Review preview for Ava

    Beautifully observed, Sadaf Foroughi's feature début explores the way that, even in societies explicitly controlled by men, it's often women who enforce social rules and seek to control one another's behaviour.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A youngster in Iran begins to rebel.
  • The Workshop
    Review preview for The Workshop

    There's a potency to this film, largely thanks to a carefully judged performance by Marina Foïs as novelist and tutor Olivia, and a charismatic one by Matthieu Lucci as her most difficult student, Antoine.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    An exploration of group dynamics in a young people’s writing workshop.
  • Woman Up!
    Review preview for Woman Up!

    There's a certain degree of decompression in its storytelling, and a willingness to jump in time and space, and though the two are strong there's a weird sense that these are the highlights and story beats of a much longer television drama.

    Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
    An ambitious woman treads a dangerous path as she attempts to crash the corporate boys’ club.
  • The Reports On Sarah And Saleem
    Review preview for The Reports On Sarah And Saleem

    Muayad Alayan's beautifully observed, studiously discomfiting film has a lot to say about power and privilege.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A man and a woman from two disparate worlds meet at nights just to have sex. However, when they get caught, the extra-marital relationship between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man causes tensions in the socio-politically divided Jerusalem.

A–Z of Istanbul Film Festival 2018 reviews

Features