Young Turkish filmmakers in Cannes

The program is designed to assist up-and-coming directors finance their projects. The film is the second Turkish project selected for the program.Teoman, speaking to Anatolia news agency, said the festival organizers accepted his second film titled, "Bizim Büyük Çaresizliğimiz" (Our Grand Despair), into the Atelier program. He said they would start shooting the film next September and complete it by March 2010. "The film, which will be shot in Ankara, also has Dutch and German producers. We want to participate at Cannes with this film next year," he said, adding that it is an adaption of Barış Bıçakçı’s novel with the same name.

Two years ago, director Semih Kaplanoğlu’s film "Süt" (Milk) was accepted to the Cannes Film Festival’s Atelier program.

Each year since the program started in 2005, the festival selects around 15 feature length projects from around the world, and invites their directors to the festival to put them in contact with film professionals. The filmmakers are selected according to the quality of their project and that of their previous films, as well as their finance plan. The program enables them to gain access to international financing and speed up the production process.