Womens Film Festival Marks 10th Anniversary

Uçan Süpürge (Flying Broom) International Women's Film Festival marks its 10th anniversary this year.

Between May 10 and 20, the festival will meet audiences with a program comprised of films by female directors from around the globe.

The festival is organized by the Ankara-based women's rights organization, Uçan Süpürge, and this year will screen 149 films by 147 female directors from 34 countries for moviegoers.

Turkish actress Müjde Ar will receive a recognition award during the festival this year.

The 10-day festival is divided into 14 sections; the most anticipated are "Each Has a Different Color," and "Best of the Festival 1998-2005".

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) awards the former, which screens the most recent productions.

The latter was introduced in the lineup this year and will encompass a selection of the best feature films of the festival's seven years from 1998 to 2005. The festival program also includes lectures with internationally renowned actresses.

This year's "A Country" section will feature five feature films, two documentaries, two shorts and an animated feature by female Hungarian filmmakers.

This year the festival will dedicate a whole section to Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller -the first female director to be nominated for an Oscar- with six of her films, most of which have never been screened in Turkey before.

Uçan Süpürge

Flying Broom (Uçan Süpürge) was founded and began its activities in 1996. The initial aim was to establish a network between women's NGOs and to function as an information and documentation center.

Over the years, our organization has raised many funds from both national and international sources to the implementation of projects under the scope of improving women's status and capacity.

Flying Broom is supported by a large circle of volunteers from women's NGOs, the media, universities, individual activists etc.

By promoting women's empowerment, it also aims to contribute to the process of democratization and development of a civil society in Turkey, in accordance with the international gender equality norms and principles formulated at Beijing (1995) and other international conferences and summits.(EÜ)