The Istanbul International Film Festival, organized by the İstanbul Kültür Sanat Vakfı (IKSV) Foundation, has been held in Turkey’s largest city every year in early April since 1982. The main prize of the festival is the Golden Tulip award.
Every year, more than 180 thousand people attend the festival’s film screenings, and the festival program includes screenings of more than 200 films. Over its long history, the festival has already been visited by about 4 million people, and about 5,000 films from more than 100 countries were shown during the festival!
The purpose of the festival is the development and popularization of Turkish cinema. The Istanbul festival often becomes a platform for the presentation of high-profile local premieres, a meeting place for local and Western directors and producers. Over the years, the IKSV festival has been visited by such world stars as Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu, John Malkovich, Sophia Loren, Bernardo Bertolucci, Park Chan-wook, Emir Kusturica and others.
More detailed information about the event can be found on the official website of the film festival.
