Turkish Film Wins Sarajevo Film Festival Honors

A Turkish film about fear overwhelming a true believer when he is caught up in religious corruption has been chosen as the best movie.

A Turkish film about fear overwhelming a true believer when he is caught up in religious corruption has been chosen as the best movie at the 13th Sarajevo Film Festival.

The jury, headed by British actor Jeremy Irons, awarded "A Man's Fear of God" (Takva) by director Ozer Kiziltan with the 25,000 euros ($33,920) Heart of Sarajevo award at the closing ceremony Saturday night.

The film, written by Onder Cakar, tells the story of a strict Muslim whose solitary life changes when a powerful religious group recruits him as a rent collector, throwing him into the modern outside world.

The new job puts his devotion to the test, and his fear of God starts to drive him mad.

"When you think of fear, when fear brings you close to losing your mind, it's just as if the fear eats away at your soul," said Fatih Akin, the Turkish-born German co-producer of the film, receiving the award on behalf of the crew.

Explaining the absence of the film's writer and director, who had already left Sarajevo, Akin (director of internationally acclaimed films including "Head-On" and "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul") said, "We didn't expect that (award)."

Turkish films dominated the festival, with three competing at the Balkans' largest film forum.

Saadet Isil Aksoy was awarded the best actress for her role in "Egg" by Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu.

Macedonian film "I'm from Titov Veles" by Teona Strugar-Mitevska won the special jury award.

U.S. actor Steve Buscemi was honored for "outstanding contribution to the art of cinema and the support to the development of the Sarajevo Film Festival."

The festival showed more than 170 features and short and documentary films during the past week.

Big industry names, such as French actress Juliette Binoche and U.S. documentary director Michael Moore, also presented their latest films.

Moore's "SiCKO," about the U.S. health system, closed the festival, with the director promising the 3,000-strong applauding audience to work to prevent the horrors of the Bosnian war from happening elsewhere.

The Sarajevo Film Festival was launched near the end of the 1992-95 war as an act of resistance by a group of enthusiasts. It grew into the region's biggest film competition.