And the Golden Boll goes to ‘Noah Land’

Vecdi Sayar – ADANA

“Noah Land” (Nuh Tepesi) by Cenk Ertürk received the Best Film award at the 26th Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, which took place in the southern province of Adana and ended on Sept. 28.

The jury, headed by actress Serra Yılmaz, gave two other prizes to the film - Best Director and Best Cinematography (Federico Casca). Ertürk also received the Best Director award given by Film-Yön (Association Film Directors).

“Noah Land” is an opera-prima (first film), which depicts the relationship of a man and his father whose dying wish is to be buried under the enshrined Noah tree, claiming that he planted this tree in his childhood. This is a story of the clash of generations as well as a critique of present-day Turkish society, told through the conflict between the conservative villagers led by the sordid headman of the village and the nostalgic old man.

The cast, headed by Haluk Bilginer and Ali Atay, plays an important role in the success of the film.

Another good film of the selection, “La Belle Indifference” (Küçük Şeyler) by Kıvanç Sezer, received three prizes: Best Screenplay (Kıvanç Sezer), Best Actor (Alican Yücesoy) and Best Promising Actress (Başak Özcan) awards. The film is a realistic critique of the middle-class lifestyle with a humoristic touch.

Sezer tells the story of a wife-husband relationship disturbed by the financial crisis and the revolt of the woman to the meaningless environment they live in. Director Sezer presents the film as the second work of his trilogy, which started with “My Father’s Wings” (Babamın Kanatları), the story of a working-class family.

The jury gave the second important award of the festival, “Yılmaz Güney Award,” to the joyful documentary of Pelin Esmer, “Queen Lear.”

This is the story of a tour of the theater group formed by the women of a village (Arslanköy) in South Anatolia.

Esmer had previously worked by these women years ago, in her documentary “The Play” (Oyun). “Queen Lear” also received the Best Music (Barış Diri) and SİYAD (Film Critics Association) awards.

The festival’s Best Actress award went to Funda Eryiğit, the principal female lead of “Aden” directed by Barış Atay. This metaphoric story also received the Best Art Director (Devrim Ömer Ünal) award.

Best Promising Actor award was received by Beran Soysal, with “Chronology” of Ali Aydın and Best Supporting Actor award by Serdar Orçin with his acting in “Long Time Ago” (Uzun Zaman Önce) by Cihan Sağlam.
Nihat Durak’s “The Door” (Kapı), played by Kadir İnanır and Vahide Perçin, received the Audience Award.

This year’s honorary awards were received by two prolific artists: actress and musician Zuhal Olcay and writer, director, musician Zülfü Livaneli. Awards were given by Adana Mayor Zeydan Karalar and the head of the organization committee, actor Menderes Samancı.

During the award ceremony, awards of the Adana Short Film Competition, International Short Film Competition and Student Films Competition were given and tributes paid to the artists who died during the year.

The festival’s international sections were satisfactory, including a tribute to Chinese director Xie Fei, a selection from young Russian young filmmakers, films on the threats of our environment and films by Afghan women filmmakers.