theartsdesk in Artvin: A Film Festival on Wheels

Young Turks take the cinema to far-flung places

by Sheila JohnstonSunday, 20 December 2009

Artvin, North East Turkey, the location for this year's Film Festival on WheelsSheila Johnston

"Where?" you ask. In the extreme north-east of Turkey, wedged in between the Black Sea, the Georgian and Armenian borders and the snow-capped Pontic Mountains, the hardscrabble town of Artvin clings tenaciously to a near-vertical hillside. Population: 25,000. Hotels: a handful, all rustic. Distance from the small coastal airport of Trabzon: three hours up a precipitous road. Nearest cinema: 50 miles. In short, the perfect spot for an international film festival.

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