The Bosphorus Film Lab (BFL) wrapped its latest edition during the awards ceremony of the sixth Bosphorus Film Festival on 3 November. Unspooling for five days, from 27-31 October, the BFL focused on local projects that have an international approach and are either in development or in production. The BFL handed out its awards of financial support totalling 75,000 TL (€12,000) as well as production and distribution support.

In the Pitching Platform, ten projects were competing, and the jury comprising filmmaker Derviş Zaim, TRT producer Faruk Güven and script consultant Suzanne Pradel selected two winners.

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The main TRT Co-production Award, provided by Turkey’s pubcaster and a partner of the BFL, went to A Hope (Bir Umut), directed by Ümit Köreken, whose previous film Blue Bicycle [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] was presented at multiple festivals. In this project, the story follows Umut, a boy from a small town, and especially focuses on his life-changing experience after playing the lead role in his school’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. It will influence him forever, although his fate is about to change dramatically. It is being produced by the director and his wife, Nursen Çetin Köreken, and shooting is tentatively scheduled for next year.

The 50,000 TL (€8,000) Digiflame VFX Post Production Support Award went to Stick Horse (Değnekten At) by Korhan Günay and Canan Çelik, their debut feature. Seven-year-old Ali is a poet who is close to his mother. When she gets sick, he goes to live with his grandmother in the village. As he struggles to talk to God and pray for his mother’s health, Ali receives a gift from his grandma, a goose to keep him company. However, the goose then gets lost and Ali will have to find it; by doing so, he will end up helping his mother. Produced by Bulut Reyhanoğlu, the film will start shooting next year.

In the Work in Progress platform, Karlovy Vary programme coordinator Anna Purkrabkova, Ceyda Gökyıldırım, marketing, business development and CRM director at CGV Mars Entertainment Group, and TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras had to pick two winners from among the six projects presented.

The Special Prize of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which comes with 25,000 TL (€4,000), went to The Trap (Kapan), directed and produced by debutant Seyid Çolak. Set on Mada Island, the only inhabited island in Turkey that is located in a lake, the film follows five different characters and the challenges that they have to face living in the middle of nowhere.

The CGV Mars Film Distribution Prize, which was handed out for the first time this year, was given to Omar and Us (Omar ve Biz), directed and produced by Mehmet Bahadır Er and Maryna Er Gorbach, known for their debut, Black Dogs Barking, although the couple has co-directed three films. Dealing with the issue of immigration, the movie follows Ismet, a recently retired soldier, and his neighbour Sabri, who decides to host two immigrants after they saved his life.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 2018 Bosphorus Film Lab:

TRT Co-production Award
A Hope - Ümit Köreken
Producers: Nursen Çetin Köreken, Ümit Köreken

Digiflame VFX Post Production Support Award
Stick Horse - Korhan Günay, Canan Çelik
Producer: Bulut Reyhanoğlu

Special Prize of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
The Trap - Seyid Çolak
Producer: Seyid Çolak

CGV Mars Film Distribution Prize
Omar and Us - Mehmet Bahadır Er, Maryna Er Gorbach
Producers: Mehmet Bahadır Er, Maryna Er Gorbach