FINALIST November 18 - December 3, 2023 SPECIAL MENTION GARDENS PETRIFIED Bahçeler Put Kesildi Short / 20 min. / 2022 / with English subtitles DIRECTOR Ali Cabbar CAST: Beran Soysal, Yüksel Ünal, Ezgi Sözmen, Şükrü Şık SCREENWRITER / PRODUCER Ali Cabbar CINEMATOGRAPHER Evren Gündoğdu EDITOR Tuvana Simin Günay Following his father's death, Yusuf returns to his village after many years, and learns that a geothermal company wants to buy his father's agricultural lands and drill a well. He wants to solve problems without disrespecting his father's memory, but things don't go as he hoped, and he has to make some tough decisions. Selected Festivals and Awards Drama International Film Festival, Short and Green International Competition, Greece (2022):  Drama Green Award Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival, International Competition, France (2022): World Premiere Cinema Verde Environmental Film & Arts Festival, USA (2022): Honorable Mention Filmfest Bremen, Focus : Sustainability, (2022): Germany Premiere İzmir International Film Festival (2022): Other Cinema Distiribution Award Uşak International Film Festival (2022): Best Leading Act Award Sultanbeyli International Short Film Festival (2022): Metin Erksan Honorable Mention Med Film Festival, Official Selection, Italy (2022) Passaggi D’autore Intrecci Mediterranean Short Film Festival, Italy (2022) Ali CABBAR Ali Cabbar was born and raised in Manisa, Turkey. He graduated from Eylül University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Dramatic Writing in 2013. Following a successful festival run with his first short film Madun/Subordinate (2020), about the struggle of illegal African refugees in Istanbul, he was awarded a grant from the European Union Think Civic Program to shoot his next project. This second short, Bahçeler Put Kesildi/Gardens Petrified, on a man’s struggle to protect his land from the threat of geothermal wells, had its world premiere at the prestigious Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival in 2022 and received several awards from several environmental themed festivals. He is currently working on his first feature movie Mom’s Pale Flowers.