The festival has programmed more than 60 Turkish premieres of international titles including The Wrestler, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Genova, RocknRolla, and The Palermo Shooting.

The International Competition, which includes Uberto Pasolini's Machan, Claire Denis' 35 Rhums, Karim Dridi's Khamsa and Christian Petzold's Jerichow, will be decided by a five-person jury presided over by veteran director Paul Verhoeven.

International stars such as Mickey Rourke, Adrien Brody, Jacqueline Bisset, Michael Ironside and Michael York are expected to present their films.

In addition, the IEFF's first weekend will see the staging of the Eurasia Film Market with market screenings of local Turkish and international titles and around 40 companies including Fortissimo Films, M-Appeal, Rezo Films and K5 International taking booths at the market venue.

The market will also be hosting the second edition of its Eurasia Production Platform where new projects by Turkey's Semih Kaplanoglou, Georgia's Giorgi Chalauri and Israel's Hanan Peled will be among 26 films pitched to potential co-production partners.

The festival will close with Rian Johnson's romantic comedy The Brothers Bloom.

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