The 59th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival takes place October 1-8th in Antalya, Turkey. There are six categories films can be selected to appear in. They are: National Feature Film Competition, International Feature Film Competition, National Documentary Film Competition, National Short Film Competition, Special Screenings, and Another World.
The National Feature Film Competition is their narrative spotlight competition of domestic feature length films. Competing this year are: A Hope, A Woman Escapes, Black Night, Burning Days, Hara, Hollow, Iguana Tokyo, Mirror Mirror, RSVP (Please Respond), and Snow and the Bear. Iguana Tokyo is one of the co-productions (Turkey, Germany, Japan) and it is the near-fi entry into the list that uses virtual reality to explore family dynamics. Mirror Mirror is one of the entries directed by a woman (Belmin Söylemez). Set in present-day Istanbul it explores three interconnected women as they work to achieve their goals despite internal or external pressures.
The International Feature Film Competition brings films from around the world to Antalya, Turkey. Competing this year are: Bread and Salt, Dustland, Men of Deeds, My Love Affair with Marriage, Queens, The Beasts, The Quiet Girl, The Sixth Child, The Visitor, and Valeria Is Getting Married. The Quiet Girl (Ireland) has the distinction of being the highest grossing Irish-language film in Ireland and the UK, it’s also their entry for the 95th Academy Awards. Queens (France, Morocco, Belgium, The Netherlands) is a road movie that from the stills reminds me a lot Thelma and Louise (though hopefully with a different ending given the child involved).
The National Documentary Film Competition entrants this year are: 23 Cents Soldier, A Strange Sight to Behold: The Van Lake Monster, Drifting, Duet, Hatice, KAF KAF, The Miss, What’s the Name of the Film?, White Collar Peasants, and Who is Mihri. The documentaries are mostly about people trying to respond to the changing world or people/things that where forgotten. From reading the summaries the documentary that stood out to me was Hatice, which follows Hatice Özkan who has SMA and after only 15 days of primary school was asked to leave. To be asked to retreat from the world when her life expectancy was already near the end (7-8) must have been so saddening/angering for both herself and her family. But at 42-years and very well-educated she found a way through. I would love to know more about her story, which I imagine the documentary explores.
The National Short Film Competition entrants are: Not Today, One Way, Stormers, The Banishment, The Girl Who Plays with Mud, The Moisture, The Sheep, The Syrian, Cosmonaut, Together Alone, Tower, You All & I Alone, and Hello is Empty, All the Devils Are Here. The films are a mix of documentary and narrative from mostly seasoned short filmmakers.
Special Screenings features two national features (Guilt and Suna), two older international films (Lawrence of Arabia and The Kid) and four national documentaries (Memoirs of a Physician, Ms. Leyla, Naperi’s Bracelet, and Once Upon a Time Yeşilçam – Abdurrahman Keskiner).
The films in Another World (Aftersun, Close, Broker, Decision to Leave, Everybody Loves Jeanne, Little Nicholas – Happy as Can Be, My Imaginary Country, No Dogs or Italians Allowed, Other People’s Children, Plan 75, and War Pony) are from filmmakers all over the world and in various styles. What they do have in common is they are bold.
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