Golden Orange Fest to have two new jury members

ISTANBUL

The members who resigned from the Golden Orange Festival jury are soon to be replaced. Hülya Avşar chairs the jury. Hürriyet photo

As the controversy over Hülya Avşar’s Golden Orange Film Festival jury presidency grows replacement jury members will be announced, daily Radikal quoted festival coordinator Göksel Kumsal as saying.

“We will announce the new jury members next week,” Kumsal said. “The jury members were chosen over a five-month period, while Avşar’s jury presidency was revealed within a one-month period.”

Two members of this year’s Golden Orange Film Festival jury withdrew from their posts a few hours after the organizing committee announced the full jury.

The withdrawal of Turkish actor and comedian Levent Kırca is linked to the naming of Turkish actress Hülya Avşar as the head of the jury, which was announced late last week and before the full jury was disclosed. Turkish director and celebrated video artist Kutluğ Ataman said he resigned due to his pressing schedule, as he is about to start shooting a new movie. Levent Kırca stated that was resigning his post due to Avşar’s jury chairmanship.

Not enough cinematic knowledge

“I do not believe Avşar has enough cinematic and general knowledge. Therefore I am withdrawing from the jury,” Kırca said. He said he had accepted his position on the jury a year ago, but had just learned that Avşar would be chairing it. “I do not want to have any arguments during the festival, so I am resigning from the post. In a period when theaters are being closed and sculptures are being pulled down, I still cannot believe Avşar has been assigned to this post. I do not want to be on the jury.”

Ataman’s assistant confirmed the news of his withdrawal from the jury and explained that Ataman resigned because his film’s shooting would coincide with the festival, which is scheduled for Oct. 6-12.

It is being claimed in the film community that Ataman also resigned because of Hülya Avşar’s assignment as chairman of the jury. However, Ataman and Avşar worked together on the film “Two Girls (İki Genç Kız),” and Ataman answered questions about working with Avşar positively. Ataman is a world-renowned contemporary artist, and has won awards for his films.

Ataman said on his Twitter account that he did not withdraw because of Avşar’s chairmanship but because he will be focusing on his new movie project. “There is nothing strange about Avşar’s jury presidency,” another jury member, Ayşegül Aldinç, said, according to an article in daily Hürriyet.