Istanbul International Film Festival closed on Saturday(April 16), splitting its main prize, the Golden Tulip award, between Gilles'Wife by Belgium's Frederic Fonteyne and CafeLumiere by Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien.
The jury, which was headed by director Jane Campion,considered 13 films in competition.
Gilles' Wife portraysa love triangle in France in the 1930s. Cafe Lumiere tells the story of a Japanese writer and thereaction of friends and family to her refusal to marry the father of her child.
The jury also included Campion's regular producer, JanChapman, Italian actress Valentina Cervi, American producer Monty Montgomery,Canadian critic Robert Daudelin, and two Turkish members, actress Meltem Cumbuland director Yesim Ustaoglu.
The festival launched on April 2 in the presence of SofiaLoren and Charles Dance, whose Ladies in Lavender was the opening film. Neil Jordan and Harvey Keitel were both givenLife Achievement Awards during the final ceremony.
The FIPRESCI jury picked Innocence by Lucille Hadzihalilovic for the best film in theinternational competition and Semih Kaplanoglu's Angel's Fall as best film in the national programme.Hadzihalilovic also won the audience award for the best foreign film in thefestival, while a local drama, Toss Up by Ugur Yucel was picked as the best Turkish film.
Yucel, a stage and film performer for almost 40 years, wasdelighted to see his belated directorial debut collect a slew of nationalawards as well, among them best director, best male performance (Olgun Simsek)and best cinematography (Eyup Boz).
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