Women make film for Golden Orange

ANTALYA – Anadolu Agency

A shanty house was chosen for the film, which was completed in three days.

A group of women including housewives and retired women, have created their own film for the “People’s Orange” competition of the 50th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, which will be held from Oct. 4 to 11. 

The women, who live in Antalya’s Kepez neighborhood, known as the backyard of the city, first became acquainted with cinema as part of Antalya Municipality’s “Women Meet Theater” project.

The women wanted to join groups this year that were formed to make films for the “People’s Orange” competition, but group members including high school and university students were hostile toward the older women, prompting the latter to create their own group and film under the direction of Akdeniz University Professor Ertunç Ukşul. 

One of the women, 58-year-old Sedef Yıldız, wrote the story of an 8-year-old girl from Antalya who had never seen the sea because of financial problems but finally fulfilled her dream by collecting and selling grapes. The film stars 62-year-old housewife Emine Önal, 10-year-old Sedef Zehra Şen and 12-year-old Doğan Acıgöz. 

A shanty house was chosen to make the film, while filming was completed in three days. The only expense for the film was grapes, which the women bought from the market for 40 Turkish Liras. They hung the grapes on trees in the shanty house’s garden. After the shooting, the film was prepared for screening in just two days. Yıldız said she had written script in 10 minutes, adding that purple, the color of the grapes, represented the color of women.

‘Rather than gossip’

The film tells the story of a girl trying to survive on her own, she said. “I have been involved in theater for five or six years. Everyone was making fun of me but I did it. We will make a film next year, too. I go to the theater rather than making gossip at home.” 

The consultant and director of the film, Ukşul, said he was shocked when the women first proposed the idea for the film. “But when I saw their passion for cinema, I decided to be a consultant and director for the film. This work shows that people from every class can show interest in cinema. I hope that they will be an example for others,” he said.