Istanbul International Film Festival

The Istanbul International Film Festival is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts (IKSV), a non-profit organisation. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its regulations, the festival aims to encourage the development of cinema in Turkey and to promote films of quality in the Turkish cinema market. The Istanbul International Film Festival was first organized in 1982, within the frame of the International Istanbul Festival as a "Film Week" consisting of six films. The theme of the films participating in the Festival was limited to "Arts and Cinema", to keep the event within the context of the International Istanbul Festival. In 1983 the event was realized under the title of "Istanbul Filmdays", taking place throughout the Festival within a span of a month. Beginning from 1984, the event gained an identity as a separate activity; it was shifted to the month... full article at wikipedia