The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul Opens the Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh
Winner of Many International Awards
The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul Opens the Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh
The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul by Turkish director Andaç Haznederoğlu will open the 17th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh(January 10-18). The film will screen at 5:30 PM (GMT +6) within the festival's Asian Cinema section.
The general theme of the Dhaka International Film Festival is'Better Film, Better Audience and Better Society'. The festival aims to create better understanding of the international film industry in an atmosphere of appreciation of the film culture. This edition will screen 170 films from more than 60 countries.
Recently, The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul took part in the 1st Casablanca Arab Film Festival in Morocco, where child star Rawan Skeif received a Special Mention for her role in the film, and was released in Jordanian theaters. The film also closed the 8th Arab Film Festival-Amman,and got selected at several international film festivals, including the Arab Film Festival in Korea and the Antalya Film Festival in Turkey, where it made its world premiere and won the Audience Award.
The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul won the Best Feature and Best Actress awards at the Silk Road International Film Festival (SRIFF) in Ireland, and the Best Feature Film and Best Editing awards in the National Feature Films Competition of the International Bosphorus Film Festival. The film also took part in the European Film Market (EFM), held as part of the Berlin International Film Festival, Arab Women Film Festival in Sweden, LET'S CEE Film Festival in Vienna, and the Manarat Mediterranean Film Festival in Tunisia.
The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul follows the journey of Lena and Meryem during their escape from the war in Syria. Lena is a ten-year-old girl who has lost her family in the war. She finds herself forced to make her way to Turkey with her baby sister and their neighbor Meryem, along with the other refugees. Lena wants to return home, while Meryem's hope is reach Europe.
Written and directed by Turkish director Andaç Haznederoğlu, The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul stars Saba Mubarak and child Rawan Skeif, alongside a number of real Syrian refugees who are acting for the first time. The film is a co-production between the Turkish companies; Andaç Film Productions, Istanbul Digital (ID) and Istanbul Film Production (IFP); and the Jordanian company Pan East Media. The film project received financial support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. MAD Solutions is handling the film's distribution in the Arab world.