By John Phillips
ROME
Young Turkish director Kaan Mujdeci's debut feature "Sivas," a coming-of-age movie set in Anatolia, has won two awards at the 71st edition of the Venice Film Festival, including the Special Jury Prize.
Mujdeci's moving focus on the relationship between an 11-year-old child and a fighting dog in a rural area of the province of Yozgat was awarded with the Special Prize on Saturday at the closing ceremony of the festival.
The movie also earned child actor Dogan Izci the best actor award as the 15-member international film critics jury of Premio Bastio D'Oro deemed the 11-year-old actor worthy of the award for his portrayal of the character Aslan in "Sivas." Izci was not in Venice to receive his award.
Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Omer Celik sent his congratulations to the cast and the crew of the film via a message he tweeted on Saturday. "Our cinema is entrusted upon safe hands, youngsters," he said.
"Turkish cinema is gaining big success on its 100th anniversary. Another international award came from Venice, following Cannes," the minister tweeted, referring to Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Palme d'Or win for his "Kis Uykusu" (Winter Sleep).
Some critics had walked out of the screening of "Sivas" at the Venice Lido last week, charging that its production had been cruel to dogs in apparently ferocious fight scenes. Mujdeci quickly reassured reporters that no animals were hurt during the production thanks to special filming techniques he developed while making a documentary about rural dog fighting.
The Golden Lion for the best film went to Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson's offbeat comedy "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence."
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