GOLDEN ORANGE CELEBRATES TURKISH CINEMA
Emrah Guler
Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 9, 2009
The 46th Golden Orange Film Festival kicks of Saturday with 150
films meeting cinema enthusiasts in the Mediterranean city of
Antalya. Sixteen Turkish and 12 international films will compete for
the golden Venus 46th Antalya International Golden Orange Film Festival
46th Antalya International Golden Orange Film Festival
It’s that time of year again for competition, controversy and cinema to
run hand in hand in the streets of the southern city of Antalya. It’s
the Golden Orange Film Festival, the biggest event of cinema in Turkey
for the last half-a-century.
The festival has always been a volatile event, especially its national
competition. The selection of the films, the selection of the jury,
the handing out of awards, and the aftershock following the ceremonies
have always made the national competition more than just a competition.
Thanks to the changing face of the festival over the last couple of
years, Golden Oranges have become a younger, dynamic and professional
event, earning a long-postponed respect in international circles. This
is, of course, fuelled by a proliferation of inspiring Turkish films
that are leaving their mark on international festivals more and more
each year. And we shouldn’t forget the line of famous names strolling
through the streets of Antalya during the festival.
This year brings a whole new dynamic as experienced festival director
and movie writer Vecdi Sayar heads the festival committee, bringing
in anticipated recent films by international directors of acclaim,
increasing the number of films to be screened, as opposed to previous
year’s extravaganza of national and international celebrities,
stealing the thunder from the cinema.
Changing face of a festival
The 46th Golden Orange Film Festival begins Saturday and will feature
around 150 films in 20 categories over the next week. The festival
will end with a ceremony announcing the winners of the national com
documentary, as well as the international competition, a first in the
festival. The national competition includes 14 categories, with Best
Debut Feature added as a new category. While the Best Picture will
win 300,000 Turkish Liras, the Best Debut will receive 50,000 liras.
Until recently, the Golden Orange was all about the national
competition, hence all the controversy surrounding the selection of
the jury panel and the award-winning films. Until a few years back,
the festival was in the hands of the municipality, but then they
decided to collaborate with the Turkish Cinema and Audiovisual Culture
Foundation, or TURSAK. In its history of more than four decades,
the festival hardly had a year when the independence of selections
went unquestioned.
Things have changed, and the meticulous planning and integrity of the
selection of the judges leave no room for doubt any more. Veteran
director Erden Kıral will lead this year’s jury, and will include
actors Ä°zzet Gunay and Yavuz Bingöl, last year’s Best Actress winner
Nurgul YeÅ~_ilcay, director Mustafa Altıoklar, art director Mustafa
Ziya Ulkenciler, movie critic Omur Gedik, screen writer Sırrı
Sureyya Onder, and writer Zeynep Oral.
Awaited films from acclaimed directors
Sixteen films will be competing in this year’s national film
competition, half of them from newcomers. One film in Kurdish (Miraz
Bezar’s "Min Dit") and that will be a first in the history of the
festival, but in line with the recent government policies of the
Kurdish initiative. Among this year’s competing films are long-awaited
new films from acclaimed directors: Zeki Demirkubuz’s "Kıskanmak"
(Jealousy), Kutlug Ataman’s "Aya Seyahat" (Journey to the Moon),
Reha Erdem’s "Kosmos," and Yavuz Ozkan’s "Ä°lkbahar Sonbahar"
(Spring Autumn).
Ä°nan Temelkuran will further delve into the world of machismo and
falling male identities in his second feature "Bornova Bornova,"
following his impressive debut "Made in Europe." Documentary directi
Ozgur Dogan return with another unique film in which they blur the
lines between reality and fiction with "Ä°ki Dil Bir Bavul" (On the
Way to School), following a Turkish teacher throughout the course of
one school year as he tries finding ways to communicate with Kurdish
children in a village.
The international competition will have 12 films, two of which are
Turkish: Abdullah Oguz’s "Sıcak" (Hot) and Pelin Esmer’s "11’e 10
Kala" (10 to 11). Among other nominees are Bulgarian director Kamen
Kalev’s "Eastern Plays," with Turkish actresses Hatice Aslan and Saadet
IÅ~_ıl Aksoy in another film blurring the lines between documentary
and fiction, and "Border" by Armenian director Harutyun Khachatryan.
This year, the golden Venus holding an orange in one hand, Antalya’s
symbol, will be proud to be part of an international film festival
where young and fresh cinema from diverse background and cultures will
be celebrated for a week in the warm atmosphere of the Mediterranean.