Turkish filmmaker Erden Kiral was presented with an honorary plaque in recognition of his entire body of work, during a ceremony that took place on Saturday, November 5, at the Pavlos Zannas theatre in the framework of the 52nd Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Attending was Festival director Dimitris Eipides. The Balkan Survey section of the 52nd TIFF is hosting a tribute to Erden Kiral, whose work is relatively unknown to Greek audiences.
After his introductory comments, Balkan Fund director Dimitris Kerkinos gave the floor to TIFF director Dimitri Eipides. “It is a tradition of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival to honor distinguished filmmakers. It was high time that the work of this outstanding Turkish director was presented. Today, we are honoring Mr. Kiral with this award”, said Mr. Eipides.
In his speech, Erden Kiral said: “First of all, I would like to thank the Festival, since the Head of the Balkan Survey section and his partners accomplished something that would have been impossible for me to achieve alone. They managed to present the entire body of my work, instead of the customary one or two films. I am deeply honored and I wish to express my gratitude“. The Turkish filmmaker then commented on the nature of such events: “Similar retrospectives and screenings of my films have taken place in the past in both France and Turkey; every time, I ended up wondering if that was the end of my work and whether I was heading to retirement. But if filmmaking is a means to better understand life, I will keep on making movies and hoping! Thank you so much”. After his speech, under the strong applause of the audience, the Turkish filmmaker was presented with the honorary plaque by TIFF director Mr. Eipides.
Kiral’s film A Season in Hakkari was screened following the presentation of the plaque.
