Turkish Film Festival Frankfurt: 25 years of building cultural bridges!

Turkish Film Festival Frankfurt: 25 years of building cultural bridges!

The International Turkish Film Festival Frankfurt is celebrating a very special anniversary this year: the 25th edition of the festival will take place at the Cinestar Metropolis from June 13th to 18th, 2025. The event is organized by Hüseyin Sıtkı, who has been working tirelessly for a quarter of a century to build a cultural bridge between Germany and Turkey. The “Transfer Between Cultures” association, which Sıtkı leads, welcomed more than 85,000 visitors during this time. “Our aim is to break down clichés and better present Turkish culture in Frankfurt,” explains Sıtkı.

The festival has developed over the years into an important part of regional culture. It promotes exchange through film and art and gives artists and filmmakers with a migration background a platform to present their perspectives. This year the focus is on strong women, which is underlined by the opening with the film “Ellbogen” by Berlin director Aslı Özarslan. The film tells the moving story of 18-year-old Hazal, who hopes to get her education in order to escape her parents' home.

A varied program

This year's program promises to be extremely diverse: In addition to exciting short films and documentaries, various feature films will also be presented. The festival also shows top-class works such as “The Teacher's Room”, which is nominated for the Oscars and is by İlker Çatak. A critical look at current social issues is also very important to the festival. The documentary “War and Justice” by Marcus Vetter deals, among other things, with the Ukraine conflict and the role of the International Criminal Court.

The awarding of prizes, which will be given out again this year, will also be particularly exciting. Filmmakers can submit their works until December 1, 2024, and the jury and the audience will determine the winners. In order to better follow all events and programs, a special website will be set up for the anniversary. In addition, Sıtkı recently received approval for a half-time position for the festival in order to better cope with the upcoming tasks.

Challenges and successes

However, organizing the festival is not without its challenges. Sıtkı reports that he has to recruit sponsors every year and this year the budget is not enough to finance an opening gala. He has also experienced a lot of criticism and disappointments in his career, but he also finds support from institutions. He is supported by patrons such as Frankfurt's Mayor Mike Josef, the Hessian State Minister Timon Gremmels and the Turkish Consul General Nagihan İlknur Akdevelioğlu.

Another turning point is imminent: Sıtkı plans to convert the non-profit association that organizes the festival into a capital company. This is intended to further strengthen the organizational framework for the festival so that it remains an integral part of cultural exchange in Frankfurt in the future.

Overall, it will be an exciting and diverse festival that will not only attract film lovers, but will also serve as an important symbol of the intercultural dialogue between Germany and Turkey. As the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports, the anticipation of the anniversary is already noticeable.

For further information and current updates about the festival, those interested can visit the official Turkish Film Festival website. Visitors can also get a deep insight into the topics and films that will be presented this year via BR.