Turkish Film 'Abluka' To Vie For Golden Lion In Venice

“Abluka” (Frenzy), the sophomore feature by Turkish director Emin Alper, is among the titles vying for the prestigious Golden Lion award in the official selection of this year's Venice International Film Festival.

A co-production between Turkey, France and Qatar, “Abluka” will face competition from 20 other films in the festival's main competition, Venezia 72, whose lineup was announced Wednesday. They include “The Danish Girl” from “The King's Speech” director Tom Hooper, “Remember,” directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau, and “Francofonia” from Aleksandr Sokurov, among others.

Coming around three years after Alper's international award-winning debut feature “Tepenin Ardı” (Beyond the Hill), “Abluka” follows two estranged brothers, one of whom is recently released on parole after 20 years in prison, as they strive to survive amidst a harsh environment of political violence in İstanbul. Starring Mehmet Özgür and Berkay Ateş in its leading roles, the 114-minute drama also includes Tülin Özen, Müfit Kayacan and Ozan Akbaba in its cast.

Made with financial support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Council of Europe co-production fund Eurimages, “Abluka” is expected to hit Turkish theaters in autumn, Alper's publicist said in a press release Wednesday.

The film will have its world premiere in the Venezia 72 competition, whose panel of judges includes Cannes Palme d'Or-winning Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan (“Winter Sleep”) and is presided by Oscar-winning Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity”). The nine-member jury also includes Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski (“Ida”), British screenwriter-director Lynne Ramsay (“We Need to Talk about Kevin”) and actresses Diane Kruger and Elizabeth Banks.

Among other films they will be evaluating are Drake Doremus' futuristic “Equals,” starring Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult; Luca Guadagnino's thriller “A Bigger Splash” with Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson and Ralph Fiennes; and “Rabin, The Last Day,” by Israeli auteur Amos Gitai. Cary Fukunaga's African-set war story “Beasts of No Nation,” starring Idris Elba, and Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's animated feature “Anomalisa” are also on the bill.

Out-of-competition entries include Scott Cooper's “Black Mass,” starring Johnny Depp as Boston gangster Whitey Bulger, and Thomas McCarthy's “Spotlight,” which features Michael Keaton as the editor of a Boston Globe team investigating clerical sex abuse, The Associated Press reported.

Other titles from Turkey to be shown this year in Venice are “Ana Yurdu” (Motherland), a drama by first-time filmmaker Senem Tüzen, which will have its world premiere as part of the independent section International Critics' Week, which is dedicated to debut films, and “Innocence of Memories,” a documentary feature about Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk's Museum of Innocence, directed by British filmmaker Grant Gee. “Innocence of Memories” will be shown as part of Giornate degli Autori - Venice Days, another independent section of the festival that runs on the sidelines of the main program. Pamuk will be in attendance at the film's premiere.

The Venice Film Festival will mark its 72nd edition from Sept. 2-12. The program will open with the world premiere of Baltasar Kormakur's mountain drama “Everest,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robin Wright.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)