The 58thAntalya Golden Orange Film Festival has come to an end following the Closing and Awards Ceremony. The Festival’s Best Film was Brother’s Keeper (Okul Tıraşı), directed by Ferit Karahan.
Hosted by the Municipality of Antalya with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism, the 58thAntalya Golden Orange Film Festival has officially ended with a ceremony held at the Antalya Indoor Sports Complex.
The evening was broadcast live on Halk TV with Şevval Sam, the Turkish singer-actress, and writer-voice actor-TV presenter, Yekta Kopan, presenting. Attending the ceremony were the Culture & Tourism Minister, Nuri Aksoy, the Governor of Antalya, Ersin Yazıcı, the Mayor of Antalya and Festival Chairman, Muhittin Böcek, and General Secretary of the Antalya Municipality and Festival Executive Director, Cansel Tuncer, along with other regional mayors, political party representatives and Antalya officials. They were also joined by multiple names from the world of film, including Emin Alper, Ahmet Sesigürgil, Ayfer Tunç, Gaye Su Akyol, Hazal Kaya, Muhammet Uzuner, Senem Tüzen, Öykü Karayel, Tunç Şahin, Didem Pekün, Pelin Esmer, Pınar Öğünç, Demet Evgar, Şerif Sezer, Yusuf Sezgin, Derya Alabora, Gülsen Tuncer, Engin Ayça, Nihal Yalçın, Mert Fırat, Uğur Polat, Hare Sürel, Ushan Çakır, Tamer Karadağlı, Erkan Petekkaya, Kerem Fırtına and Birol Güven.
In the speech he made, Muhittin Böcek, the Mayor of Antalya and Festival Chairman, said: ‘Having prepared for the Festival in the shadow of the pandemic with the additional anguish of this summer’s terrible forest fires, the event has given us renewed hope and strength. As a beacon of Turkish cinema, the Golden Orange and its long legacy have once again lit up Antalya and the country as a whole. Meeting with our treasured filmmakers and film enthusiasts has buoyed us all. We have had the joy of creating some memorable moments together at the Festival, which has set us firmly on the road to recovery, allowing us to reinforce the good things and look to the future with optimism. And together we will keep this sense of joy alive. Today, the Golden Orange will rise up in the hands of filmmakers for the 58th time. I congratulate all filmmakers who’ll be receiving awards tonight.’
When it came to his speech, the Minister for Culture & Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, said: ‘I would like to begin by saying how happy I am to be with you at the International Antalya Film Festival, one of the country’s leading arts and cultural events. As Mustafa Kemal Atatürk once pithily remarked, ‘A society without the arts is deprived of one its life sources.’ Taking inspiration from this statement, I should say that it is our primary responsibility to nurture this life source of our society. As the heirs to a time-honored civilization, we have many more great and powerful stories to tell. I believe with all my heart that we will achieve this thanks to the vast reserves of imagination and artistic skills of you, our treasured filmmakers.’
Best Film to Brother’s Keeper
This year, 10 films screened in the National Feature Film Competition for awards in 14 categories worth a total of TL770 thousand. Screenwriter, director, producer and academic, Emin Alper, chaired the jury whose other members were: the cinematographer, Ahmet Sesigürgil, the screenwriter, Ayfer Tunç, the singer, songwriter, composer and producer, Gaye Su Akyol, the actress, Hazal Kaya, the director, instructor and actor, Muhammet Uzuner, and screenwriter, Senem Tüzen. Collectively, the jury awarded Best Film to Ferit Karahan’s Brother’s Keeper (Okul Tıraşı). Announcing the award, Emin Alper cited the jury’s reasoning in the following statement: ‘We are giving the award to the film, Brother’s Keeper, for its powerful and convincing critique of a system where children are stringently homogenized, for telling its story in a profoundly lucid and eloquent way without resorting to melodrama, and for its superb acting performances.’
As well as Best Film, Ferit Karahan’s Brother’s Keeper also picked up Best Screenplay Award for FeritKarahan and Gülistan Acet, and Best Editing Award for Sercan Sezgin, Ferit Karahan and Hayedeh Safiyari.
While Selman Nacar’s Between Two Dawns (İki Şafak Arasında), won the Dr. Avni Tolunay Special Jury Award, the Behlül Dal Best First Film Award went to Anatolian Leopard (Anadolu Leoparı), a film directed by Emre Kayiş.
Tayfun Pirselimoğlu Takes Best Director
The Best Director Award was given to Tayfun Pirselimoğlu for his latest film, Kerr. In announcing the award, the jury commended the film ‘for building a dystopian atmosphere that fuels a deep sense of fear and unease, for its subtle interplay of cinematography and art direction, and for its impressive and meticulous use of cinematic tools’.
Tayfun Pirselimoğlu’s Kerr was also recognized by a jury comprised of directors, Ali Özel, Leyla Yılmaz and Vuslat Saraçoğlu, with the FİLM-YÖN (Film Directors’ Association) Best Director Award. Nikos Kypourgos, who scored the film, came away with Best Music Award.
Best Actress to Nihal Yalçın, Best Actor to Tarhan Karagöz
The Best Actress Award was given to Nihal Yalçın for her performance in Zuhal, and the Best Actor Award to Tarhan Karagöz for his role in The Cage (Kafes).
While Özgür Eken picked up Best Cinematography Award with Commitment Hasan (Bağlılık Hasan), Anatolian Leopard (Anadolu Leoparı) won the Best Art Director Award for Billur Turan.
The Best Supporting Actress Award was shared by Özay Fecht for her role in The Cage (Kafes) and Nezaket Erden for her performance in Between Two Dawns (İki Şafak Arasında). Between Two Dawns also earned Erdem Şenocak the Best Supporting Actor Award.
Turning to the SİYAD (Turkish Film Critics’ Association) Award, the jury of film critics, Ayla Kanbur, Okan Arpaç and Suzan Demir named their Best Film as Çağhan Özdemir’s Pure White (Bembeyaz).
Cahide Sonku Award Goes to Ezgi Baltaş and Feride Çiçekoğlu
The TL50 thousand Cahide Sonku Award was inaugurated the year before last in memory of the Turkish actress, Cahide Sonku, to raise the profile and visibility of women working in the Turkish film industry. This year’s winners were named as Ezgi Baltaş, the casting director of Between Two Dawns (İki Şafak Arasında) and the film’s assistant producer, Feride Çiçekoğlu.
Best Documentary is All-In
The 9 films shortlisted for the National Documentary Film Competition were assessed by a jury comprising the filmmakers, Didem Pekün, Pelin Esmer and Pınar Öğünç. The Best Documentary Film was awarded to Volkan Üce’s All-In (Her Şey Dahil), ‘a film which stands out for its thorough exploration of the central characters, for broadening out the grind of work, the search for equality, the questioning of meaning from the world of the characters into an ultimately human issue, and for its subtle cinematic language’.
The Special Jury Award was given to Aslı Akdağ’s documentary, Expecting a Grain of Sand (Bekleyiş) on the following grounds: ‘Good documentaries are born of courage. Being a single mother in a conservative community is tough in its own right. But the director, who portrays herself as the subject of this experience shows even greater courage.’
Before announcing the awards, the jury noted that one of the documentaries they had been impressed by deserved special mention. As they went on to explain: ‘This is the story of a single woman who leaves for Germany with the first convoy of Turkish migrant workers and of her family, broken apart by migration but later reunited. Didem Şahin’s Bittersweet (Acı ve Tatlı) takes us on a bittersweet journey through the passageways of a blurring memory.’
I’ll Leave You Two Alone Takes Best Short Film
The 12 titles selected for the National Short Film Competition were considered by a jury composed of Onur Saylak, Öykü Karayel and Tunç Şahin. Elif Refiğ’s I’ll Leave You Two Alone (Siz Biraz Uzak Kaldınız) was named Best Short Film‘for a narrative that confounds the audience’s expectations at every turn and for telling its story, which examines the identity and values of its characters, with a polished and powerful cinematic language’.
Ali Tansu’s The Second Night (İkinci Gece) came away with the Special Jury Award‘forits impressive acting direction, for creating an original and powerful visual world, and for skillfully crafting a new language through courageous cinematic choices’.
The jury also gave a special mention to Rewsen (Rewşen), a short directed by Musab Tekin, ‘for using the camera to take us on a journey into the minds of the characters and made a powerful emotional impact on the audience through its original, stripped-down narrative’.
Libertad Comes out Top in International Competition
A jury chaired by the Polish director, DorotaKędzierzawska, and made up of the Palestinian actor, Ali Suliman, the Swedish journalist and film critic, Eva af Geijerstam, the French producer, Guillaume de Seille, and the Bulgarian actor, Margita Gosheva, judged the 10 films screening in the International Feature Film Competition, who awarded Best Film to Clara Roquet’s Libertad. Announcing the award, the jury stated: ‘The Best Film Award goes to a film that describes the problems of both young people and old with powerful nuances. This coming-of-age story also gains from the strong performances of the cast. The award goes to Clara Roquet’s film, Libertad.’
Best Director: Paz Fábrega
The jury gave the Best Director Award to Paz Fábrega, the director of Aurora, for ‘her cinematic skill and simplicity in bringing to the screen the many different aspects of womanhood with depth and subtlety’.
The Best Actress Award was taken by Claudia Grob for her performance in The Fam. In announcing the award, the jury noted: ‘The Best Actress delivers a hugely heartfelt performance and solemnly keeps it up through the entire film. The award goes to Claudia Grob for her profound portrayal of the emotional confusion experienced by the character she plays in the film, The Fam.’
Finally, the Best Actor Award went to Petri Poikolainen for his role in the film, The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic. In its statement, the jury observed: ‘The winner of the Best Actor Award gives us a powerful lesson in acting. Seamless communication between the director and actor enables us, the audience, to vividly experience the journey of a disabled character.’
NATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION AWARDS
BEST FILM
BROTHER’S KEEPER / OKUL TIRAŞI
Ferit Karahan
DR. AVNİ TOLUNAY SPECIAL JURY AWARD
BETWEEN TWO DAWNS / İKİ ŞAFAK ARASINDA
Burak Çevik
Diloy Gülün
Selman Nacar
BEHLÜL DAL BEST FIRST FILM AWARD
ANATOLIAN LEOPARD / ANADOLU LEOPARI
Emre Kayiş
BEST DIRECTOR
TAYFUN PİRSELİMOĞLU
Kerr
CAHİDE SONKU AWARD
EZGİ BALTAŞ
FERİDE ÇİÇEKOĞLU
BEST SCREENPLAY
FERİT KARAHAN
GÜLİSTAN ACET
Brother’s Keeper / Okul Tıraşı
BEST ACTRESS
NİHAL YALÇIN
Zuhal
BEST ACTOR
TARHAN KARAGÖZ
Kafes
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
ÖZGÜR EKEN
Commitment Hasan / Bağlılık Hasan
BEST MUSIC
NIKOS KYPOURGOS
Kerr
BEST EDITING
SERCAN SEZGİN
FERİT KARAHAN
HAYEDEH SAFIYARI
Brother’s Keeper / Okul Tıraşı
BEST ART DIRECTOR
BİLLUR TURAN
Anatolian Leopard / Anadolu Leoparı
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
NEZAKET ERDEN
Between Two Dawns / İki Şafak Arasında
ÖZAY FECHT
The Cage / Kafes
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
ERDEM ŞENOCAK
Between Two Dawns / İki Şafak Arasında
TURKISH FILM CRITICS’ ASSOCIATION (SİYAD) BEST FILM AWARD
PURE WHITE / BEMBEYAZ
Necip Çağhan Özdemir
TURKISH FILM DIRECTORS’ ASSOCIATION (FİLM-YÖN) BEST DIRECTOR AWARD
TAYFUN PİRSELİMOĞLU
Kerr
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION AWARDS
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
LIBERTAD
Clara Roquet
BEST DIRECTOR
PAZ FABREGA
Aurora
BEST ACTRESS
CLAUDIA GROB
The Fam
BEST ACTOR
PETRI POIKOLAINEN
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic
NATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION AWARDS
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
THE SECOND NIGHT / İKİNCİ GECE
Ali Tansu Turhan
BEST SHORT FILM
I’LL LEAVE YOU TWO ALONE / SİZ BİRAZ UZAK KALDINIZ
Elif Refiğ
NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM COMPETITION AWARDS
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
EXPECTING A GRAIN OF SAND / BEKLEYİŞ
Aslı Akdağ
BEST DOCUMENTARY
ALL-IN / HER ŞEY DAHİL
Volkan Üce
