As the Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, our entire city is experiencing the excitement of the 61st Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival together. We all know very well that cinema not only touches its audience but also transforms and advances societies, cities, and countries.

The Golden Orange Film Festival is, in this regard, one of the greatest brand values of our Antalya, one of the symbols of our city, and our pride and joy. The motto of our festival this year is “Our Story Together!”

As you know, this year, we took a significant step that we believe is crucialfor the future of the festival and decided to organize the Antalya GoldenOrange Film Festival without the support of the Ministry, relying solely onthe resources of our Municipality. We are proud to host this year’s festivalindependently, in partnership with cinema workers, as the AntalyaMetropolitan Municipality. Our goal is to elevate our internationallyrecognized festival back to global standards. In other words, we willcontinue to be “Our Story Together” with all cinema professionals.

This year, we have further expanded the resources of our festival and increased our support for filmmakers. We are very happy because, as the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, we believe that culture and art are an essential part of the right to a dignified life, and we shape our municipality’s cultural and artistic policies with this understanding. Therefore, the interest you have shown in our festival today is extremely valuable to us.

I would like to once again express my deepest gratitude to our Jury President, Mr. Ferzan Özpetek, and all the jury members who have supported our festival this year.

Hosting one of the world’s most important film festivals, an art form that requires immense effort and dedication from the writing of the screenplay to the final frame on the screen, is a great honor for us.

With this awareness, I wish that the 61st Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival will be fruitful for all cinema professionals, cinema lovers, and, of course, our entire country. As the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, our support and contribution to cinema will continue, growing stronger each day.

I invite all the citizens of Antalya to join us in celebrating cinema throughout this festival week.

Muhittin Böcek
Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Festival President