Renowned Iranian writer and filmmaker Shahram Mokri and Turkish filmmaker Mevlut Akkaya have set a precedent as the first international jurors for Kannada cinema at the 7th Bengaluru International Film Festival.
Mr. Akkaya is credited with A Jazz Story , featuring jazz legend Gary Bartz, and Kanake, which tackles racism. His Toss Up won a record number of awards at the Antalya Film Festival. Mr. Akkaya said there was a possibility of Turkish-Indian co-productions. Indian producers can explore this possibility with the Turkish government, which will share production costs up to 25 per cent, he said.
Mr. Mokri, who created waves with Fish & Cat and short film Dragonfly Storm , said that while propaganda films received government support in Iran, independent filmmakers lacked facilities. Fish & Cat was a low budget film made with a digital camera. “To find market for my kind of film is a challenge,” he said.
Fish & Cat is a carefully organised piece made by interweaving conversations. According to Mr. Mokri, the 134-minute film “sketches human and camera movement which offers coherence for the multiple scenes.”
