06-07-2010

PRODUCTION: Istanbul begins filming in July

By Zsolt Gyenge

    Hungarian director Ferenc. Török's film Istanbul, the story of a middle aged woman who is abandoned by her husband, begins filming in Istanbul July 12 for a 13 day shoot. Production continues in Budapest on August 2 for 17 days. The film is to be completed by the end of 2010.

    Török directed several feature films, including local cult-film Moszkva tér (Moscow Square) about the fall of communism in Hungary, before working for several years for television. Istanbul is his return to the big screen. The film is about an emotionally hurt woman, played by the Dutch actress Johanna ter Steege, who leaves her family and ends up in Istanbul. The film will be mainly in Hungarian, but because of the international cast and locations there will be English and Turkish dialogue as well.

    Istanbul is a Hungarian, Turkish, Dutch, and Irish co-production with a total budget of €1.4 million. The film is produced by the Hungarian Új Budapest Filmstúdió (www.ujbudapestfilmstudio.hu) and producer László Kántor, with Phanta Vision (Netherlands, producer Petra Goedings www.phantavision.com); Ripple World Pictures Ltd. (Ireland, producers Dominic Wright, Jacqueline Kerrin, rippleworld.com) and Kuzey Film (Turkey, producer Serkan Acar, www.kuzeyfilm.com).