Golden Okra award shames sexist films

ISTANBUL-Hürriyet Daily News

Tolga Örnek’s ‘Kaybedenler Kulübü’ won the Golden Okra Award this year.

The Golden Okra Awards, presented to criticize the male dominance of the cinema sector and sexism, were announced on March 19 at the Dutch Consulate General in Istanbul.

This year’s Golden Okra Prize went to the movie “Kaybedenler Klübü” (Losers Club), directed by Tolga Örnek. None of the actors from the movie attended the ceremony to accept the award.
Awards were given in eight categories.

The award for best male character went to “Behzat Ç: Seni Kalbime Gömdün” (I Buried You in my Heart) for its three male leads and the award for best female character went to all of the women portrayed in the movie Çınar Ağacı (Plane Tree).

The best screenplay award was given to “Kurtlar Vadisi: Filistin” (Valley of the Wolves: Palestine) and the audience award went to “Losers Club” again.

The Jury Special One-Sided Okra Award went to three movies; “Misafir” (The Guest), “Ağır Abi” (Brother) and “Günah Keçisi” (Scapegoat) and the Golden Okra for sexist language went to “Celal Tan ve Ailesinin Aşırı Acıklı Hikayesi” (The Story of Celal Tan and his Family).

Speaking during the ceremony, the Dutch Consul General in Istanbul Onno Kervers said both countries were celebrating 400 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands.

Kervers said: “The first Dutch ambassador settled here in March [400 years ago]. We have now a lot of cooperation in terms of trade, culture, art and economy to celebrate the first day of this event.”

“Next month Abdullah Gül, the president of Turkey, will visit the Netherlands. Today, we are very happy to host such an event here,” said Kervers.