Montreal Welcomes Misafir with Awards

Mavi Boncuk | 

Special Grand Jury Award: Misafir (The Visitor/La Visiteuse) from Mehmet Eryilmaz (Turkey) 

Jury President : Dany Laferrière, writer (Canada) Luis Urquiza, filmmaker (Mexico) Gerardo Salcedo, festival programmer (Mexico) Peter Rainer, writer & film critic (United States) Ventura Pons, filmmaker, (Spain) Tea Falco, actress (Italy) 

MISAFIR / THE VISITOR[1] Trailer

 At the 39th Montreal World Film Festival (Canada, August 27 – September 7, 2015), the Critics Prize, International Competition, went to "The Visitor" (Misafir) by by Mehmet Eryilmaz (Turkey, 2015. 127 min).

The Critics Prize, First Feature Film Competition, went to "Rosa Chumbe" by Jonatan Relayze (Peru, 2015, 75 min). 

Jury members were Andrés Nazarala, Chile, president ("La Segunda Newspaper", "Mabuse Film Magazine"), Malwina Luiza Grochowska, Poland ("Kino"), Andrea Crozzoli, Italy ("CinemazeroNotizie", "Il Piccolo"), Oscar Peyrou, Spain ("El Hype", "Noticine"), Dmytro Desiateryk, Ukraine ("Den", "Iskusstvo Kino"), Phillip Bergson, UK ("BBC World Service Radio"), Peter Rist, Canada ("offscreen"). 

Print sources. "Misafir": Film Production and Sales: Sultan llhan, Atlanta Film, Siracevizler Üçler, Apt.10/3, Sisli, Istanbul, T +90 (533) 644 56 80, info@misafirfilm.com; m.eryilmaz19@gmail.com. – "Rosa Chumbe": Film Production and Sales: Eliana Illescas, Yin Zhang Films, Ca Tacna 460, Dep. 303, Miraflores, Lima 18 (Peru), T +51 (09) 8126 89 55, jonatanrelayze@gmail.com

Festival www.ffm-montreal.org

[1] Director : Mehmet Eryilmaz
Screenwriter : Mehmet Eryilmaz
Cinematographer : Cemil Kizildag
Editor : U?ur Hamido?ullari, Sultan ?lhan, Taner Sarf, Mehmet Eryilmaz
Cast : Zümrüt Erkin, Tamer Levent, Ayten Uncuoglu, Hale Akinli, Ersin Umut Güler, Melek Çinar
Music : Sema
Film production and Sales : Prod.: Sultan ?lhan, Atlanta Film, Siracevizler Üçler, Apt.10/3, ?i?li, Istanbul (Turquie), tél.: +05 (33) 644 56 80, info@misafirfilm.com.

Synopsis: Ten years after being thrown out of her parental home, Nur hears that her mother is at death’s door. Taking her young daughter with her, Nur hurries back to her father’s world to see, and reconcile with her mother before it is too late. While the universal theme of mother-daughter relationships lies at the centre of the film, this is underpinned by an allusive subtext of incest, one of most common but least addressed social problems in Turkey. The individual stories of the family members combine with a sense of hope fuelled by tragedy to paint a portrait of the socially disconnected. 

Director: Mehmet Eryilmaz graduated from the radio and television department of Marmara University. He continued his studies at the cinema and television department of Mimar Sinan University. After graduation, he started writing and directing his own short, experimental and documentary films. He has also earned recognition for his series of documentary films on traditional Turkish music. Selected filmography: The Songs of Naz?m Hikmet (2002), A Fairground Attraction (2008), A Holiday Morning in Istanbul (2011).