19th Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival, Ankara

Only one year before the Jubilee 20th edition of the Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival, the event was as vivid and brave as possible in the turbulent times of what is the mid-2010s. The program focused on the problems and concerns of women, not only in Turkey but all over the world. Parallel with the 12 films of the main competition called ‘Each Has a Different Color’, the audience enjoyed special screenings of the ‘Northern Lights Anja Breien’s Retrospective’, Gunvor Nelson’s movies, the Turkish features, the documentaries and the short film selections. The intimate community of the family gave a strong base for raising questions regarding women’s issues and bound different genres of contemporary cinema. In the section called ‘Family: the Scene of Incident’ we could watch, for example, Nahid (Nahid, 2015), an Iranian movie by Ida Panahandeh, about the story of a young divorcee and her 10-year-old child; another one by Khadija al-Salami, the first female director of Yemen, (I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced, (Ana Nojoom bent alasherah wamotalagah, 2014); Zouzou (Zouzou, 2014) by Stephanie Araud about the clash of generations; The Dog (Köpek, 2015) directed by Esen Isik and If Mama’s Ain’t Happy Nobody is Happy, a short by Mea Dols De Jong. The programmers were also not blind for neuralgic subjects of ongoing military conflicts, transgender’ killings, rape and abuse, and the possibilities of renewal following the experience of traumatic events. Queens of Syria (Dir. Yasmin Fedda, 2014) and the short My Aleppo (Dir. Melissa Langer, 2015) dealt with the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian war from a non-European point of view. Five Women on the Hill (Tepede Bes Kadin, Dir. Ese Kinaci, 2015) and several other documentaries treated the ethnic conflicts of the Turkey of the present as well as the past. The screenings were matched with various workshops, talks and performances, mainly for Turkish speaking visitors. All these events were perfect starting points for communication. The FIPRESCI prize went to Things to Come (L’Avenir, 2016), a film directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. In this film we saw a strong middle-aged woman experiencing losses and changes with humor and philosophy and becoming the heroine of her own life. The story showed the confrontation of different generations and ideas in a gentle, deeply tolerant way. The award was given for the delicate style of directing and acting, and for reflecting hope. The Ankara’s women’s film festival plays an extremely important role in attracting attention to its sensitive topic. Although the recent terrorist attacks kept international guests away from the event, the atmosphere was generally positive and hopeful. We also have to underline the fact that this festival is the only one with the special theme of women’s issues hosting a FIPRESCI jury, and because of its substantial role and high level of quality, it is definitely to be kept it in the scope. (Janka Barkóczi)

Festival: http://festival.ucansupurge.org