33rd Tokyo International Film Festival | Forgiveness by Cem Özay

 

Mavi Boncuk | 

Turkish director Cem Özay’s[1] first feature film “Af” (“Forgiveness”) will premiere at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 9 this year. “Af” is the only production selected from Turkey this year for TIFF, which is one of the most prestigious festivals 

Co-written by Cem Özay and Tuğçe Öztabak, and starring actors Timur Acar, Emine Meyrem, Hakan Aslan, Yusuf Bayraktar and Macit Koper, the film focuses on the conflict between an authoritarian father who makes his living through the tree trade in a mountain village and his children.

Produced by Ömür Güner and co-produced by public broadcaster TRT, the film was shot last year in a mountain village in Machakheli Valley of Artvin province, located on the Georgian border. Supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s General Directorate of Cinema, the film previously won the TRT Project Development Special Award at the Antalya Film Forum, held as part of the 54th Antalya Film Festival, and Başka Cinema Distribution Award at the 39th Istanbul Film Festival-Meetings on the Bridge.[2]

[1] Born in 1983 in the south-eastern province of Gaziantep, Özay worked as an editor for various news agencies before moving into the film industry in 2003. Starting off as a line producer, he later began writing and directing. He made his first film, a short-titled Passenger (Yolcu), in 2017. Passenger screened and won awards at numerous national and international festivals.

2020 Af (Forgiveness), Narrative Drama

2017 Yolcu (Passenger), Short

[2] The Başka Sinema Distribution and Promotion Award was presented to director Cem Özay and producer Ömür Güner of the film Forgiveness. Jury’s deliberation: To a heartbreaking work of cinema whose images are as strong as the message it conveys, served by three incredible performances. The Başka Sinema Distribution and Promotion Award goes to Forgiveness.