Which films will receive awards in which categories in the National Feature Length Film Contest, where 13 films are competing, will be revealed tonight…

The shell of the pomegranate has cracked!

The premiere of the last film by Ümit Ünal, “Nar” (Pomegranate), was screened at the 48th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

The eagerly awaited film, “Nar” (Pomegranate), of the director Ümit Ünal premiered within the scope of the National Feature Length Film Contest, at the 48th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. “Nar” (Pomegranate) was screened with one of the largest participations of the festival, and the film narrates the story of a woman which starts with her seeking her own justice, and is full of surprises. The screenplay of the film, which sees four people with different beliefs in one house for half a day, and their questioning their own beliefs after being together in this house for such a short period, belongs to Ümit Ünal.
A discussion was held after the screening, and director Ümit Ünal, producer Türker Korkmaz, actresses İdil Fırat, İrem Altuğ and Şükran Ovalı, arts director Elif Z. Taşçıoğlu, and montage director Çiçek Kahraman took part. Serra Yılmaz could not attend the festival because of her theatre work abroad. Director Ümit Ünal explained the reason for the name of the film being “Nar” during the discussion, as follows: “When I look at crowded groups, I see that different people, different ideologies, different lifestyles and different beliefs can be together without conflict. I sought out what it was that held so many people, with so many differences together. What is it that prevents us being at each other’s throats? Everyone chooses beliefs for themselves, such as religion, opinions and ideologies, and we can succeed in being together. We are all different, just like each of the fruit within a pomegranate. And I considered that the thing that keeps us all together is the shell of the pomegranate. And I wanted to crack that shell.”
The film which will be screened for the first time stars Serra Yılmaz, İrem Altuğ, İdil Fırat and Erdem Akakçe. The producer of the film, which was made in Istanbul, is Türker Korkmaz. The director of cinematography for the film is Türksoy Gölebeyi, and the music belongs to Selim Demirdelen. Nar will start to be screened at the cinemas on 23 December 2011.

A film that describes 12 September through the eyes of Xelilo and Cengo: “Meş” (The Walk)

One of the film galas on the sixth day of the festival was the film “Meş” (The Walk) filmed by director Shiar Abdi, who lives in Germany. The screenplay of the film was written by its lead actor, Selamo (Abbülselam Kılgı), and describes the effects of the 12 September coup on those living in Mardin Nusaybin, through a real life occurrence.

Xelilo, who establishes a world of his own, and lives without speaking to anyone, and is thought by some to be crazy, is an important character reflecting the Mardin at the time of the military coup. “Meş” (The Walk), which narrates the experiences of Xelilo and his child friend Cengo, is the only Kurdish film at the festival.

The roles in the film are shared by Selamo, Brader Musiki, Abdullah Ado, Rugeş Kırıcı, Mehmet Avşar, Tülay Musiki, Filiz Abeş, Mehmet Keyık, Naîf Elmas, Aydın Orak and Serhat Ertuna.

After the screening of the film, a discussion was held, in which the screenplay writer, artists and producers took part. During the discussion, the film’s screenplay writer Selamo said, “This film does not describe the period of 12 September; it just describes a small detail of it. I personally knew the person who the character Xelilo is based on. His lifestyle had a great effect on me when I was small. When I heard that he had been killed I wrote a poem for him, and we then decided to adapt it into a film, together with our director Shiar Abdi.”

Zenne (Zenne Dancer); “Honesty sometimes kills!”

“Zenne” (Zenne Dancer), which has been adapted from the true story of Ahmet Yıldız, whose murderer has still not been caught despite the fact that more than three years have passed since his murder, received a lengthy standing ovation after its screening. The crew of “Zenne” (Zenne Dancer), who all wore red shirts in order to make reference to one of the important scenes in the film, drew intense interest from cinema lovers.

“Zenne” (Zenne Dancer), which was declared to be amongst the most effective films of the festival with its striking account, is the first cinema film of its directors, M. Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay. The film which is competing for awards at the 48th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, in the national film category, was dedicated to Yıldız, who was a close friend of the directors, and who was murdered in 2008 because of his sexual identity being disclosed.

The screenplay for “Zenne” (Zenne Dancer) was written by M. Caner Alper who took his inspiration from true life stories, narrates the story of the friendship between Ahmet, the child of a conservative, eastern family, Can, who is a dancer in the dance clubs of Istanbul, and is not afraid of revealing his true colours, and Daniel, a German photographer who does not know the value judgements of Turkey particularly well. The film deals with the story of this extraordinary triad in terms of the procedures regarding the exemption of homosexual men from military service, which were implemented in a way contravening universal human rights, until 2008.

The film stars Kerem Can (Can), Erkan Avcı (Ahmet) and Giovanni Arvaneh (Daniel), together with other successful, such as Rüçhan Çalışkur, Tilbe Saran, Ünal Silver, Esme Madra, Jale Arıkan, Tolga Tekin, as well as famous names such as Amberin Zaman, Banu Güven and Piyale Marda, with guest appearances.

One of the leading actors of “Zenne” (Zenne Dancer), which was filmed in Istanbul and Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, Kerem Can, worked on the film’s dance scenes for seven months together with the choreographer of the modern dance troupe Pina Bausch, Daphnis Kokkinos, in Germany, as well as with Beril Şenöz and Burçin Orhon in Turkey. The dance music of the film “Zenne” (Zenne Dancer) was prepared by Demir Demirkan, and its dramatic music was written by Paolo Poti in Italy, in one and a half years, and performed by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra.

The film crew also took part in the discussions held following the screening, giving the message, “we are not hiding our identities”. The most conspicuous speech during the discussion was the speech of Ünal Silver, who played the role of the ‘father in the film. Silver said, “It was a very difficult role for me. That is because my daughter is gay. I have one son, one daughter and two daughters-in-law. The things I am most proud of in my life are my children.”

As well as drawing attention with its visual riches, dances, costumes, make-p and music, “Zenne” (Zenne Dancer), which is
the first cinema film of M. Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay, looks like it might cause a huge debate by reawakening the matter
of Ahmet Yıldız, which as yet remains unconcluded…

The restrictions on “Kara Kafa” (Dark Head) are removed!

The world premiere of the film “Kara Kafa” (Dark Head), which was prohibited from being screened in 1980 was shown within the framework of the “Belated Golden Orange”. Film lovers paid great attention to the film which had been banned for the reason that it was “demeaning the honour of a friendly country”. 
Korhan Yurtsever’s 1980 film, “Kara Kafa” (Dark Head), which was banned in Turkey for the reason that it was “demeaning the honour of a friendly country”, and was the first talking film of Turkey, had its gala screening. During the discussion which took place following the screening, director, Korhan Yurtsever said, “When I first received a call from Deniz Yayın, the Project Coordinator of the Belated Golden Orange, I did not believe it at first. I thought they were joking. The film reached me through illegal methods, and by giving bribes. That is the only way could bring it to the festival.” Yurtsever stated that his new project sting people very badly.
“Kara Kafa” (Dark Head),  which is the first film made by Korhan Yurtsever in Germany after “Fırat’ın Cinleri” (The Bad Spirits of Euphrates), which received the Jury Special Award at the San Remo Film Festival, narrates the story of a labourer and his family in Germany. The film stars Betül Aşçıoğlu, Savaş Yurttaş and Macit Flordun. 

Women meet the theatre!

The second play, “Koca Yasa” (The Great Law), of the “Women meet the theatre” project, which was started by the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality in 2010 was performed at the Metropolitan Municipality Cultural Hall.
“Koca Yasa” (The Great Law), which was written by Hilal Doğan, directed by Müfit Kayacan and Kutsal Kaynak, and choreographed by Selin Bezircioğlu, was written based on the true stories of housewives who have no theatrical experience. The project is attempting to produce solutions directed towards the issues faced by women in public and private life.

The finalists of the People’s Orange have been determined…

The finalists of the “People’s Orange Film Festival”, which is being organised for the third time this year, with the thought of “integrating the public with the festival”, as a part of the Golden Orange, have been announced with a ceremony organised in the Amphitheatre of the Ataturk Cultural Park: “Rengim” (My Colour), “Kumanda” (Command) and “Gül ve Silah” (Rose and Gun).

Akaydın: “New film makers are coming out of Antalya”

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Akaydın, Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality of Antalya and the chairman of the Board of Directors of AKSAV, the mastermind and eponym behind the People’s Orange project, stated that they were experiencing the excitement of integrating the public with the festival. Akaydın said, “We have seen how interested our people are in the cinema with this project. I am certain that film makers from Antalya will sign their names to projects with which they will get their names heard, within a short time. And we will become even more proud then. I would like to congratulate all of the crews that took part, and my compatriots from Antalya for their participation in this great project.” The jury for the People’s Orange are made up of the following 7 people: Necla Algan (Film Critic), Filiz Otyam (Actress), Bingöl Elmas (Director), Ayla Yüksel (Manager - Teacher), Akgün Keskin Sakarya (Press and Public Relations Consultant), Gülsen Tuncer (Actress), Deniz Filiz (Advocate). 10 separate crews competed in the People’s Orange, and the winner will be announced tonight, during the closing ceremony of the Golden Orange Film Festival, from among the short films, “Kumanda” (Command), prepared by the crew of the Koza Kolektif Grubu, “Rengim” (My Colour), prepared by the crew of “Rengim” (My Colour), and “Gül ve Silah” (Rose and Gun), prepared by the crew of Atölye Biz.