After Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival: "From a Dry Day to a Dark Night"

The 59th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is over. Hande Kara’s festival impressions are in the news.

Held this year for the 59th time between 1-8 October. Antalya Golden Orange Film FestivalIt ended with the award ceremony held last night. In the festival, where the films in the national competition selection are eagerly awaited every year, 10 new films competed again this year. We expected a strong selection overall, from experimental films to comedy, fantasy sci-fi to powerful dramas. However, apart from a few films, unfortunately, we could not find what we expected in Antalya as in Adana.

We agreed that Emin Alper’s Arid Days, which does not leave a chance to any future film as soon as it is watched, will also leave its mark on the awards. Although Dry Days did not disappoint us with its 9 awards, the jury consisting of Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Azra Deniz Okyay, Harun Tekin, Nurgül Yeşilçay and Uğur İçbak gave the “Best Film” award to Özcan Alper’s Dark Night, which caused controversy. . Likewise, the similarities of the films Dry Days and Dark Nights were among the most talked about at the festival. Another noteworthy detail was that the themes of the films competing in the festival were generally focused on rural and lgbt characters. One of the common points met by movie critics was how some of the movies in the selection were far from other movies. Another discussion topic of the awards was the Behlül Dal Best Debut Film award. Because only one director’s first film was competing in the competition, and the award went directly to that film (Snow and the Bear). Although Dry Days left its mark on the ceremony, where the thank-you speeches were the scene of quite political discourse, it lost the best film award to Dark Night and caused various jokes because of the similarity of the surnames of the directors (Emin Alper, Özcan Alper).

Let’s move on to the films. As I try to do in every festival, I will briefly talk about the films I watched in the competition selection.

Dry Days (5) : After the Hill, Blockade, Sisters, Emin Alper’s latest film, Dry Days, which also competed in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes this year, is both the director’s best and one of the best films of recent years. In fact, there is a lot to write about the film, which gives the reality of the country with such a masterful script and editing, an unceasing tension and very good acting. Best director, best actor, best supporting actor, best music, best cinematography, best editing, Siyad best film, Cahide Sonku special award and Film-Direction best director award from the film festival. It received 9 awards in total.

RSVP (3.5): The most surprising film of the festival for me was RSVP (Please Answer). Directed by İsmet Kurtuluş and Kaan Arıcı and written by Erdi Işık, whom we know from the theater world, LCV is a one-location film. The film, which locks a bride, a groom and the groom’s best friend in a hotel suite before the wedding, questions two-faced relationships, the institution of marriage, his view of homosexuality, love and trust. Although it has been criticized theatrically, LCV, which has a very fluent script, shines with its cast consisting of Ushan Çakır, Cem Yiğit Üzümoülü and Melisa Şenolsun. Already, Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu shared the Best Actor award with Selahattin Paşalı. However, there is another issue that I would like to mention here, and that is that I wish Cem Yiğit Üzümoülü would receive this award not with RSVP, but with his other movie, Dark Night. Because he had given a much better game there.

Dark Night (3) : The biggest reason why I gave 3 points to Dark Night, the winner of the Best Film award, is because it is really dark like its name. I think we need more hopeful stories when we need hope most. Apart from that, I found the movie quite successful in terms of acting and technique. It makes a tiring start due to the number of characters and parallel editing that we meet only in the first fifteen minutes, but then it picks up the rhythm. The best screenplay award was proof of that.

Mirror Mirror (3) : Belmin Söylemez’s second film, Mirror Mirror, which comes from documentary cinema and is promising with its first film, Present Zaman, tells the story of three female characters. The film, which shines with its image and art direction, is also a good watch with its successful acting. However, the stories of the three female characters are also somewhat superficial, as the film does not go too deep into the subject. Laçin Ceylan received the best supporting actress award for her role in the movie, but in her thank-you speech on the stage, she said that there were three leading roles in the movie and this award was given in the wrong branch. It wasn’t exactly unfair.

Empty (2.5) : Bomboş, directed by Onur Ünlü, is a black comedy that brings together Serkan Keskin and Settar Tanrıöğen. The film, which we can call a comedy of misfortunes, was one of the highlights of the festival.

Snow and Bear (2,5): Being a first by Selcen Ergun, Snow and the Bear is a technically clean film, although it has the uneasiness of being the first film. The biggest problem of the movie is its script, which does not allow any element of curiosity. The film, which brought the best actress award to Merve Dizdar, also received the best first film award as it was unrivaled.

A Hope (2) : Bir Umut was also one of the films that alienated me because of its female character. The film, which has a weak script and character development, proceeds with the acting of Baran Şükrü Babacan.

Iguana Tokyo (2) : Kaan Müjdeci’s anticipated film is a science fiction story with a very good starting point. The film, which focuses on a nuclear family who started playing a virtual reality game, was a very tiring course for me despite its short duration, with a mind-blowing fiction, incomprehensible references and metaphors.

Hara (1.5): Hara, which will be released this week, is actually a family movie. In fact, it’s one of those ranch-themed emotional movies that used to air regularly on the Hallmark Channel. It is a film that should not be in the Antalya competition selection.

Departure O Departure (1) : Burak Cevik; He became one of the prominent names of experimental cinema with Tuzdan Kaide and Belonging. Although it has an understanding of cinema that doesn’t appeal to me, I was disappointed with its extremely personal story and an unnecessary three-dimensional experience.

Hande Kara