Start your STFF 2019 experience by attending the Opening Night Gala at Pacific Science Center's Ackerley Family Exhibit Center together with our special guests Farah Zeynep Abdullah, Dogu Demirkol, Cem Kaya and Tunahan Kurt. Included in the event are a live DJ set, light bites and a cash bar. Guests are also invited to visit the center's renowned "Butterfly House" during the gala, free of charge! The kick-off will be followed with the screening of our opening film "Bold Pilot" Directed by Ahmet Katiksiz at Paccar Imax Theater at Pacific Science Center. There will be a Q&A session after with the film's lead actor Farah Zeynep Abdullah present.

"Bold Pilot" is a fairy-tale like true love story between a jockey who grew up in a poor village and the daughter of well-known and respected man in horse racing, ignited over a shared passion of the legendary race horse Bold Pilot.

Director: Ahmet Katiksiz

Cast: Ekin Koc, Farah Zeynep Abdullah, Fikret Kuskan

Director: Omur Atay

Cast: Ege Yazar, Caner Sahin, Gozde Mutluer

Seventeen year old Yusuf comes home after spending four years at a youth detention center. His return to the family freshly recall the act that the other family members, bound by rigid tradition, forced upon him as the younger son.

A deadpan black comedy and true story about four retired colonels who attempt to take over Turkey's national radio station.

Director: Mahmut Fazil Coskun

Cast: Ali Seckiner Alici, Tarhan Karagoz, Murat Kilic  

Being surrounded by the obscure political events in the 1990s in Turkey as a child, Mirza cannot escape from being a victim of the ever going-on devastating events. However, his life changes upon arrival of a guest called Mir Ahmed.

 

Director: Mehmet Ali Konar

Cast: Civan Güney Tunç, Bilal Bulut, Orhan Alıcı

Short films selected by the STFF Shorts Film Committee out of more than 200 submissions. There will be a Q&A session with Tunahan Kurt, the director of the grand prize winner film Bed Bug. 

The audience will vote and one of the films will receive the "Seattle Audience Award".
 

 Read more about the individuals films at the STFF Shorts 2019 page. 

Turkey in the 1960s and 70s was one of the biggest producers of film in the world even though its film industry did not have enough written material to start with. In order to keep up with the demand, screenwriters and directors were copying scripts and remaking movies from all over the world. Name any Western hit film, there is a Turkish version to it, be it Tarzan, Dracula, The Wizard of Oz, The Exorcist, Rambo, Superman or Star Trek. These quickly and low budget produced lookalike movies were adapted to the taste of local audiences with huge success in the Anatolian hinterland. What they lacked in equipment and budget they compensated through excessive use of manpower both behind and in front of the camera.

​

There will be a panel discussion with the director Cem Kaya, and actors Farah Zeynep Abdullah and Dogu Demirkol after the screening.

 

Director: Cem Kaya

Interviews: Cuneyt Arkin, Izzet Gunay, Memduh Un, Nuri Alco, Hulya Kocyigit

Three young girls from a poor village of Central Anatolia are sent affluent foster families as it is the only chance to change their lives.

 

Director: Emin Alper

Cast: Cemre Ebuzziya, Ece Yüksel, Helin Kandemir,

Having finished studying in the city, aspiring writer Sinan returns to his parents' rural home. However, he becomes increasingly disenchanted after spending time with his family and others in the village, but does pear fall far from the tree? The Wild Pear Tree reveals the answer.

​

Actor Doğu Demirkol will be present for a Q&A session after the screening.

 

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Cast: Doğu Demırkol, Murat Cemcir, Bennu Yıldırımlar

 

​

After a serious car accident, Müslüm partly loses his hearing and suffers from speech and movement disorders. Life looks very grim until the eccentric Müslüm finds his salvation in music and as a phoenix rises from the ashes.

 

Directors:  Ketche, Can Ulkay

Cast:  Timuçin Esen, Zerrin Tekindor, Ayça Bingöl