Censored Gezi documentary returns to festival program

ISTANBUL

Reyan Tuvi’s ‘Love Will Change the Earth’ has returned to the festival program, after the director removed the translation of a Turkish swearword from the subtitle.

A documentary on last year’s Gezi Park protests in Turkey, which had been removed from the competition of the 51st Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, has been reintroduced to the festival program amid censorship claims.

The film, “Yeryüzü Aşkın Yüzü Oluncaya Dek” (Love Will Change the Earth), had been removed the festival’s National Documentary Competition on the grounds that it violated articles 125 and 299 of the Turkish Penal Code on defamation of the president.

However, a compromise has been reached and the documentary has returned to the festival program, after its director

Reyan Tuvi removed the translation of a Turkish swearword from the English subtitle of the documentary.

The festival committee has issued a statement in its Twitter account, announcing that the new version of the documentary would compete in the festival.

After the initial removal decision, the preliminary jury of the National Documentary Competition declared in a press statement that they “do not recognize” the decision.

The controversy led to the withdrawal of the competition’s main jury president, Can Candan, from the festival.