International film festivals propose the best season for cinephiles around the world. These festivals usually vary according to the region, the subject of movies, or the type of movies such as independent movies, experimental ones, animation, etc. They are cultural and interactive events where actors, directors, producers, and cinephiles come together. They also have the power to contribute to the local economy where the festival is organized and attracts tourists. Since the 2000’s, new perspectives within film studies indicate that film festivals are composed of complex and diverse situations leading to the development of independent cinema. This development proposes a parallel improvement in the reclaiming of film festivals by feminists, LGBTQ+, ethnic minorities, and activists and their increasing visibility.

Directors from all around the world can apply with their documentaries, short movies, feature-length, or any type of media considered a “moving image” related to, for instance, the subject of the festival. Some film festivals are very well-known and popular in Turkey such as Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival or Istanbul International Film Festival. However, in this article, I am going to dive into some international film festivals that are subject-specific and less known in comparison to the ones that are held in Antalya and Istanbul.

Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival
A festival that only women directors can apply for, the Flying Broom International Women’s Festival has been organized by the Flying Broom Foundation since 1998. Flying Broom started its journey in 1996 as a non-profit organization, aiming to connect women’s organizations alongside raising awareness on concerns such as violence, harassment, forced marriages, equal visibility, and representation. Since its first year of organization, this film festival itself has been strengthened alongside the women’s movement in Turkey. The overall aim is to make women’s labor more visible, establish a communication and cooperation network among women in the film industry, and ensure the visibility of films by women directors.

Based in Ankara, the festival brings short films, feature films, or documentaries by women filmmakers together with the cinephiles. Among its sponsors, there are embassies, municipalities, and ministries. In 2023, it was the 26th anniversary of the festival and it was held in the first week of June. I had the chance to participate in it and watched a documentary called “The Silent Majority Speaks” by the Iranian director Bani Khoshnoudi. It focuses on the social movement and revolt culture of modern Iranian history while exploring the concepts of collectivity, patriarchy, and authority further. The festival proposes many documentaries and films such as this one, from South Korean to Chilean women directors.

International Labor Film Festival
1 May is known internationally as Labor Day, and it is a celebration of laborers and working classes around the world. International Labor Film Festival has been organized since 2006 in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir every year starting on 1 May and it lasts until the end of the year, travelling in various cities of Turkey. Its headline is “No Sponsorship, No Competition, Free and Alternative Festival!”, and it is organized by a volunteer community valuing independent and alternative cinema, thinking that cinema can be used as a tool to increase awareness and social memory. It is a free festival, ticketless, non-competitive, and focuses on the international working class, aiming to describe their life and struggle, connecting individuals and groups who have experiences in making films about this struggle, disseminating the films showing the lives of unemployed, peasants, and students.

What I admire about this film festival is that it does not belong only to movie theatres, movies are also shown in labor unions, factories, and community centres in small neighborhoods around Turkey. So, in some ways, this film festival can become grassroots rather than belonging to a small intellectual circle since it is inherently against the commercialization of cinema. It tries to break the monopoly of mainstream movie theatres by screening alternative, marginalized movies that could not find a place in mainstream cinema, making the movies accessible for low-income earners as well. It has the potential to fill a social space where the predicament and hardship of workers can be discussed and shown through movies and documentaries.

Pink Life QueerFest
Pink Life is an LGBTQ+ solidarity association founded in Ankara, in June 2006. It is the first transgender rights association in Turkey and they organized the QueerFest for the first time in 2011, marking it the first and only queer festival throughout the country. It is not merely a film festival since during its time, various interviews, Q&A sessions, workshops, and panels take place, creating wider environments for discussing current issues regarding queer cinema and art. I still find it very crucial to cover this festival because it has been indicated that queer film festivals as growing markets tend to be dominated by Western queer cinema since Western productions always get wider exposure and visibility. QueerFest in Turkey proposes a great example in which Western models of movies and LGBTQ+ identities can be intertwined with local and non-Western perspectives.

QueerFest is a festival organized by a very small team with the help of independent and international NGOs and cultural institutions. Sometimes it was organized simultaneously in Berlin and Amsterdam with the collaboration of LGBTQ+ diasporas. I find it fascinating that the festival opens some space for non-Western queer voices, hosting various films and documentaries made by queer artists alongside highlighting key topics of concern such as discrimination and violence.

In this article, I briefly covered three international film festivals in Turkey that can be considered as subordinated by the mainstream film festivals. These are subject-oriented festivals, trying to increase the visibility of issues related to women, working class, and LGBTQ+ respectively. It is my wish to witness the improvement of independent cinema through film festivals focusing on especially marginalized and disadvantaged communities.

Ece Nur Özkaya

Sources
Asli Ozgen-Tuncer – The International Labour Film Festival in Turkey
Aylin ALTUNBULAK – Reimagining Queer Film Festival as a Counterpublic Space. A Case Study of Turkey’s Pink Life Queerfest
FilmFreeway – Uluslararası İşçi Filmleri Festivali
Iff – Hakkımızda
FilmFreeway – Pink Life QueerFest
Pembe Hayat – About Us
FilmFreeway – Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival
Flying Broom – Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival

Poster Credits
Irmak Durukan
Kibele Yarman
Bella Demhat