Golden Orange films to be screened in open-air cinemas

ANTALYA

The 57th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival will be organized this year from Oct. 3 to 10. The head of the festival, Ahmet Boyacıoğlu, announced that the festival films will be screened outdoors at the Atatürk Cultural Center.

“We will organize a different festival by using both open-air cinemas and internet facilities,” he said.

Stating that film crews and juries will be invited to Antalya, Boyacıoğlu said that juries will watch movies without an audience, film crews will greet the public to open-air screenings and press conferences will be held the next day.

Boyacıoğlu reminded that cultural events were canceled in many countries due to the coronavirus and stated that the Istanbul and Ankara film festivals were postponed, too.

“A very important feature that makes Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival different from other festivals is that it has its separate venues. This is a huge advantage. Aspendos and Perge halls in Atatürk Cultural Center belong to the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality. Besides, there are suitable areas in Kültürpark that can be converted into an open-air cinema.”

Explaining that a strategy that will be least affected by the epidemic was determined during the meetings with Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek, Boyacıoğlu stated that the changes specific to this year were made in the festival.

He also said that in addition to the national competitions, which are the most important and most interesting parts of the festival, there will be an international feature-length competition as well.

“Screenings will be held in open-air cinemas, taking into account the social distancing and the measures due to the epidemic. Film crews and juries will be invited to Antalya. The juries will watch the films without an audience in the halls of Aspendos and Perge. Film crews will go on the stage and greet the public to open-air screenings, and press conferences will be held the next day. Antalya Film Forum and Golden Orange Cinema School for university students, which attracted great attention last year, will be held online. As a result, we will organize a different festival by using both open-air cinemas and internet facilities,” Boyacıoğlu said.

[HH] Three main goals

Explaining that they have three main goals in the Golden Orange Film Festival, Boyacıoğlu said, “To promote the films produced in our country, to make Antalya a center where everyone wants to shoot movies and to offer a week full of cinema to Antalya residents with movies and guests.”

He said that this year they have a condition for films to compete in the feature, documentary and short feature film categories that they should make their first screening in Turkey, adding, “Short filmmakers competing in the Istanbul Film Festival asked us to remove this condition for this year due to the pandemic. Later, the same request came from documentary filmmakers. Our answer was ‘you have already been selected for a festival. Open the way for other directors, let their films also compete in Antalya.’ Last year, there were 10 films in the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Feature Film Competition. Later, six of these films were in the competition of the Istanbul Film Festival and five of them at the Ankara Film Festival. In a country, where nearly 200 feature films are produced every year, it is of no good for the same films to compete in all festivals.”

Reminding that the Cannes Film Festival could not be held this year due to the pandemic, Boyacıoğlu said, “The festival management announced a list of 56 films and posted the ‘Cannes label’ on these films and gave the message to the whole world, ‘If we could hold the festival, we would show these films.’ Twenty of these films were made in France. The concept of ‘international festival’ is disappearing in the world. Every festival tries to highlight the films of their own country and this is the right thing. Festivals in our country should include more local films in their programs, which ensures their recognition both in our country and in the world. Therefore, ‘the first screening in Turkey’ condition is the right decision.”