Film Crews Met With The Audience At Golden OrangeAltın Portakal'da Film Ekipleri Seyirciyle Buluştu
The 61st International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, organized by the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, continues to nourish the spirit of cinema by bringing together audiences and film crews.
The first meetings took place on October 7th as part of the festival; nine local and foreign productions, from documentaries to short films, from first films to masterpieces, were presented to the audience with the participation of their crews.
“I experienced the scene we had not yet shot in the coffeehouse”
On Monday, October 7th, two film crews from the National Feature Competition answered the questions of the audience after the screening. The talk held after the screening of the film “Mukadderat”, which received a long standing ovation at the AKM Aspendos Hall, was attended by screenwriter Erdi Işık, director Nadim Güç, producer Rodi Kayım, art director Güler Başar and actors Nur Sürer, Osman Sonant, Şirin Sultan Saldamlı and Cem Zeynel Kılıç. The scriptwriter of the film, Erdi Işık, who tells the story of Sultan, who wants to remarry after losing her husband, does not change her decision despite her children’s objections, and on top of that, goes into business life, said that he based the story on his own life: “I am from Cide; all the characters in the film are my family and neighbors. The Hanife character in the film is Fevziye, the sister who took care of me when I was a child. She really wants to watch this film, my next goal is to be able to make Fevziye watch this film.” Master actress Nur Sürer, who plays the lead role in the film, also stated that she liked “the woman finding herself” the most in the film. Director Nadim Güç said, “It is very difficult to tell the story of a woman in such a country. Because the story you tell becomes a utopia, we are trying to get there. I hope we can see this in real life as well,” while actor Osman Sonant shared an interesting anecdote from when he was working on the film: “While I was sitting in the coffee shop, four men at the table behind me were talking about whether or not to give the sister a share of the inheritance. We hadn’t shot the scene yet and up until that moment I was questioning whether we were caricaturing certain things, but when we went to Cide I could say we were almost there.”
“Women’s issues will continue to be on our agenda”
Another National Competition film of the day was “Hatırladım Ağacıler” (The Trees I Remember). Screenwriter-director Erhan Tuncer and actors İştar Gökseven, Hande Doğandemir and Erdem Kaynarca attended the talk at the AKM Aspendos Hall after the screening. Tuncer explained the journey of the film, which takes on the difficult story of a young woman who is considering ending her life with her unborn baby, and reconnecting with life through a father and son who have long since given up on life: “A small family anecdote that emerged from our famous evening conversations with my wife, a process that developed when I came across a book by a poet named Süha Tuğtepe and read the poem ‘Mavi Valiz’, and my precious daughter Eylül gave up on the name of the film.” One of the actors, Erdem Kaynarca, shared his comments on the subject by saying that he had experienced a situation similar to the one in the film in his life: “Frankly, I experienced a situation similar to my best friend’s suicide. When people lose their strength against life, when they can no longer fight it, they give up on life. Sometimes, as is thought, they don’t give up most of the time because they are strong.” Actress Hande Doğandemir, who stated that emotionally preparing for the film took a long time and was difficult, said, “One of the women’s issues we witness a lot is Bahar’s story. Maybe it’s very familiar to all of you – or maybe not – but it’s one of our biggest problems. It’s currently on our agenda and will continue to be on our agenda.”
“Life is not lived slowly; we have fun on a lot of buried things.”
Apart from the competition, the crew of the film “Bıldıgın Gibi Değil” (Not As You Know It) within the scope of the National Special Screening program also met with its audience today. Following the screening at the AKM Aspendos hall, director Vuslat Saraçoğlu and producer Can Ünlü, as well as actors Serdar Orçin and Alican Yücesoy answered the audience’s questions. Saraçoğlu said the following about the film, which tells the story of the constantly changing and transforming relationships of three siblings in their 30s who come together in their hometown after the mysterious death of their father: “The ending was clear at the beginning. I especially wanted to make the prequel entertaining because I don’t like when such issues are told in an overly dramatic way. When it is like that, it wears out and sometimes even feels abused. Also, I think there are many things we don't know about our loved ones in life, but life is not lived that slowly; many things are buried, but we have fun on top of it.” Actor Serdar Orçin said, “I am a child of a family with four siblings, I know that structure very well. There is no person who watches here and is not touched by a moment between the siblings in the movie. This authenticity is also affected by the acting and the script.”
Women are the homeland of women
The “Kayıtsız” team from the National Special Screening program was also in front of the audience after the screening at the AKM Perge hall. Screenwriter-director Özlem Çıngırlar, cinematographer Vedat Oyan, actors Tülay Günal, Nesteren Mazal and Rıza Sönmez answered questions from the audience. The director pointed to Forough firsthand for the emergence of the film, which features a character who returns to Turkey from Europe to play Iran’s famous female poet Forough Farrokhzad: “I am already a fan of Forough Farrokhzad, I have been nourished by her poems as much as possible. I am a fan both in terms of literature and cinema – she hasn’t made many films actually, but the films she has made are still exemplary – and in terms of worldview. As someone who wants to believe in the saying that women are the homeland of women, I have been in this solidarity.” Actress Mazal, who continued the subject from where the director left off, explained her own perspective as follows: “When we started the project, there was no movement for women’s freedom in Iran. I was really surprised when this project first came; I was very happy, wondering how a Turkish writer and director would show the influence of the poet, writer and filmmaker in Iran. Women in Iran have been trying to fight for years, but I hope they will soon achieve the freedom they want.” Sönmez answered a question about the theatrical narrative chosen by the film as follows: “If this woman worked in a salmon factory, we would see salmon. The story of a woman whose profession is acting is a bit more theatrical. In a way, this is a woman who has decided on her own exile, she has moved away from Istanbul, decided on her own exile, and is trying to hold on to life through her profession. In fact, she is interested in the education of her child, for example, when she could be doing bigger things. I think sometimes when we tell a story, in order to ensure the reality of the story, we should not care too much about whether the audience will get bored or not. In order to establish the world we are telling, sometimes the film needs to be in the shadow of the boringness of life, just as boring as it is.
The other two films of the day, screened with the participation of the crew, were in the Documentary National Special Screening program: “The Thracian Amazons” directed by Engin Deniz Atlı and “The Only Immortal is Love” directed by Zeynep Bayraktutan and Gökhan Kasapoğlu
“Tunç Başaran practically shot his own documentary”
The documentary “The Only Immortal is Love” prepared in memory of Tunç Başaran, one of the most hardworking directors of Turkish cinema, directs the lens both to Tunç’s career, which has always focused on love, and to his personal life, which is woven with love. Following the screening, directors Zeynep Bayraktutan and Gökhan Kasapoğlu, producer Pelin Onat and Tunç Başaran’s brother Meriç Başaran attended the talk in the AKM Perge hall. Zeynep Bayraktutan, who said, “It is an honor to be in the Golden Orange with a film about a director who has won the Golden Orange many times,” explained the emergence of the project as follows: “When I watched Let Them Shoot the Kite, the name Tunç Başaran caught my attention. Afterwards, I always called him my favorite director. Years later, I moved to Bandırma and when I learned that he also lived in Bandırma, I couldn’t believe it, I went to meet him with that excitement. We became very close friends. One day, he said to me, ‘Zeynep, I want you to write my book. You are the best writer and start with my death, okay?’ and we lost him two months after that conversation. Then Gökhan, Sevinç and Pelin; we all said let’s make this documentary.” Kasapoğlu expressed the process from her own perspective with the following words: “I come from a photography background, Tunç Hoca is the one who made me love cinema. When we met, he approached me like a friend and motivated me seriously, he helped me finish my project. Towards his last days, he actually shot his own documentary. My teacher Zeynep and I said, “Let’s write this book” through our dialogues. She told me, “You will shoot my documentary, don’t let me go”; the day before she passed away. As I said, she actually brought us the script and documentary, believing in it and actually bringing us to this point herself.”
“The true story of women who struggled and succeeded”
Another documentary that had a Special Screening of the day was “Thracian Amazons” directed by Engin Deniz Atlı. The talk that took place after the screening at the AKM Perge Hall was attended by director Engin Deniz Atlı, producer Sema Fener and director of photography Çapan Özçelik. Stating that she is also from Thrace and therefore pursued a story she knew very well, Atlı continued her words as follows: “I was a child in all the villages you see in the film, so making this film was very enjoyable. However, it has become much more important to me now; because when I saw the news that is currently on the agenda and watched this movie on top of it, seeing these beautiful examples, at least seeing women who are still alive, who continue to fight and who have succeeded, made me feel a little bit good. That's why I think the movie has gained a new meaning with this agenda." Özçelik also said, "We talked to the women there and told you their troubles. They all have their own struggles, if we could convey that to you a little bit, we are happy."
World-renowned doctors' world premiere
The story of the two names behind the 'first uterus transplant from a cadaver' and the baby born afterwards, "Altın Eller", which was performed for the first time in the world and entered medical literature, Prof. Ömer and Özlenen Özkan, met with the audience with its world premiere. Following the screening of the film, which was included in the National Documentary Competition, at the AKM Perge Hall, Prof. Ömer and Özlenen Özkan and director Sevgi Hischhauser answered the questions of the audience. Prof. Ömer Özkan, who took the floor first, made a sincere statement and said, "I had never thought of this environment; I thought of it as one of the hospital promotions we often do as amateurs. We came here with a huge team, this is the first time we are at such a big event." Director Hirschhaeuser explained the importance of the project for him as follows: "Two valuable doctors, known worldwide and the honor of Turkey! Everyone was competing to shoot a film with them! I was in Serbia at the time, promoting my first film. On days when I thought it was very difficult to reach them, I told them about myself, I told them I wanted to make a festival film, and they both listened to me. I was very proud that they entrusted me with the project as an independent filmmaker in such high demand. I thank them for giving me this chance.”
“This film emerged from desperation and oppression”
The director of the documentary “Is Anyone Alive?” (Is Anyone Alive), which had its world premiere in the Borders to Limitlessness section, Ömer El-emevî answered the audience’s questions after the screening at Cinetime (2nd Hall) ÖzdilekPark Antalya Kepez Hall. El-emevî said the following about the film:
“I am a filmmaker from Gaza. It is a great honor to be here right now. I would like to thank the festival for giving us the opportunity to show our film and tell our story. As someone from Gaza, this film has a very special meaning for me. My family, my parents and my loved ones still live in Gaza. They struggle to survive every day. Today, October 7th, is the first anniversary of the war, and tens of thousands of innocent lives were taken in just one year. You can include international journalists, artists and filmmakers in this.
For us as Palestinian filmmakers, filmmaking is not just an art form, it is also a form of resistance. It allows us to hear the truth and fight against the erasure of our voices. This film emerged from desperation and oppression. It was also made to honor the people who resisted. There is no fiction in this film, everything is real.”
Agniezska Holland was told by a Syrian producer in Turkey
Another production that met with the audience under the same title was “Green Border” by Agniezska Holland, the ‘queen’ of Polish cinema. The director of the film, which is about Middle Eastern and African refugees trying to reach the European Union through the so-called green border between Poland and Belarus, says the following about the film: We live in a world that requires great imagination and courage to face all the difficulties of modern times. The social media revolution and artificial intelligence have made it increasingly difficult for real voices to be heard. In my opinion, if one does not fight for that voice, if one does not fight to ask questions about important, painful, sometimes unsolvable problems that put us in front of dramatic choices, there is no point in engaging in art. This is exactly the situation experienced on the Poland-Belarus border.
Following the screening of the film at Paribu Cineverse 8 Migros AVM Konyaaltı, Emir Külal Haznevi, one of the producers of the film, answered the questions of the audience. Haznevi first explained how he got involved in the production: “I was born in Syria, I have been living in Istanbul since I was 1 year old. I received all my education here, but my family is in Syria and we were affected by the war a lot. Mike Downey and I had previously made a couple of films together. Agnieszka Holland said she had a project like this and she wanted a producer who was Syrian, who knew the culture well and who worked on people who were affected by the war. I was a bit reserved because I didn’t like someone European telling this story at first, but when I read the script and saw how much the director and the team took ownership of the work and how much they researched, I wanted to get involved.”
When asked “What should be the right attitude towards refugees? What does the director think about this?” Haznevi answered the following: “He explained it this way: I made a film called Europe Europe in 1982. The title says Europe twice; because it was the Europe we imagined, the symbol of all development. The second Europe was a Europe that contained all the hypocrisies and belonged to the continent that committed the most crimes against humanity in the history of war. And 40 years later, we are experiencing similar things again. What Holland saw as the biggest problem was; why do we separate people who are victims of war from each other? The director's main objection was actually; are Ukrainians accepted so acceptably just because they have colored eyes? Because no civilian is guilty of anything.”
When asked to talk about the difficulties the team experienced during the filming process, Haznevi stated that they only experienced logistical problems. Apart from this, he stated that utmost attention was paid to cultural depictions, unlike Hollywood, and said, “I was first surprised that the director handled the issue in such a humane way, and then I appreciated him very much.”