Golden Orange canceled over controversy

ANTALYA

The 60th Golden Orange Film Festival, the oldest film festival in Türkiye, has been canceled this year after controversy over a documentary. The festival was set to be organized between Oct. 7 and 14 in the southern province of Antalya.

Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek announced the cancellation of the festival on the night of Sept. 29, a day after the Culture and Tourism Ministry withdrew its support for the event.

The controversy centered on “Kanun Hükmü” (The Decree), focusing on a teacher and doctor dismissed from their jobs under the state of emergency in Türkiye following the attempted coup on July 15, 2016.

The film was initially selected for the festival, but excluded from the competition last week, prompting an outcry from filmmakers who condemned it as censorship.

Festival director Ahmet Boyacıoğlu said the film had been removed from the national documentary film category because of ongoing legal proceedings against one of the people featured in the film.

The festival's jury members also made a statement that they would pull out if the film was not readmitted and said they "reject the approach that looks for incriminating elements in a film and the normalization of censorship."

Then the organizers reinstated the film, but it was excluded again after the Culture and Tourism Ministry withdrew its support for the festival, calling it propaganda for the FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader, Fethullah Gülen, who orchestrated the defeated coup.

In a video posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Mayor Böcek blamed the festival's administrators and artistic team for mishandling the controversy and not engaging in crisis management.

“Due to the mess created by their own hand,” the festival administration, artistic director and the entire artistic team were fired, he said, and added, “Nobody should doubt that I will not allow our festival to be used for anyone’s political agenda.”

Following the announcement that the festival was canceled, posters placed in different parts of the city and Venus statues, the symbol of the festival, were removed at the weekend.

Canceled for the third time

The Golden Orange Film Festival, which was first held in 1964 with the initiative of Antalya Mayor Avni Tolunay, has the title of Türkiye's longest-running festival.

This year, Böcek announced the 60th edition of the festival, saying, “Despite many negativities such as the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the world, the Manavgat fire that burned the city and the economic crisis, we never extinguished the light of our Golden Orange.” But with this decision, the Golden Orange was canceled for the third time in its history after 1979 and 1980.

In 1979, the censorship board banned the films “Yolcular” directed by Yavuz Pağda, “Yusuf ile Kenan” directed by Ömer Kavur and “Demiryol” directed by Yavuz Özkan. So the festival was canceled after the producers, directors and jury members decided to pull out the festival.

The festival was also canceled in 1980 due to the Sept. 12 military coup.

At the 48th Golden Orange Film Festival held in 2011, the films of the festivals that were not held in 1979 and 1980 were given awards during the “Late Golden Orange Awards” ceremony.