Turkish film events at Cannes festival canceled due to Soma disaster

CANNES

(L to R) Demet Akbağ, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Haluk Bilginer and Melisa Sözen posed with placards in memory of Soma victims during a photocall for the film 'Winter Sleep.' REUTERS Photo

Due to the mining tragedy in Soma, all invitations and receptions at the ongoing 67th Cannes Film Festival hosted by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry for acclaimed director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest film, “Kış Uykusu” (Winter Sleep), have been canceled.

Culture Minister Ömer Çelik has also canceled his visit to the festival. Immediately after the accident, other festival events celebrating the 100th year of Turkish cinema were also canceled.

The gala of the film was held on May 16 with the attendance of the film’s stars Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbağ and director Ceylan, as well as many other well-known figures from Turkey. Before the gala screening, the film crew posed with placard writing “#Soma” for the hundreds of miners who lost their lives in the tragic incident.

“Winter’s Sleep” is competing for the Palm d’Or at this year’s festival. The film’s producer, Zeynep Özbatur Atakan, said the actors in the film would wear a black ribbon until the end of the festival.

The festival, which opened on May 14 with an out-of-competition screening of “Grace of Monaco,” will run until May 25. Among the other films in competition are two from Canada with director David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” and Atom Egoyan’s “The Captive,” and two from Britain: Ken Loach’s “Jimmy’s Hall” and Mike Leigh’s “Mr. Turner.”