Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival gets the female touch

And the Woman Touched the World has been announced as the theme for the 48th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. Taking place in the coastal Turkish city between the 8th and 14th October, the festival hopes to bring together ‘Cinema, Women and Politics’ by electing exclusively female committees to preside over the ‘International’, ‘National Competition’ and ‘Shorts and Documentaries’ selections.

The National Film awards shortlist has been announced, with nine of the thirteen Turkish-made films selected being efforts from first time directors.

The festival will be presenting Honorary Awards to British actress and singer Jane Birkin, and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who has been banned from making films for the past twenty years after producing films that criticised the military and the Iranian regime, and is currently under house arrest in his native Iran. Panahi previously headed up the jury at the 44th Golden Orange Festival in 2007.

As well as these honorary awards, the festival will be presenting the Belated Golden Orange Awards, honoring films that were denied their awards in 1979 and 1980, when the festival was halted for two years after the intervention of the Censorship Committee and the military coup that followed in 1980.

Prof. Mustafa Akaydin, President of the Board of Directors for the Antalya Culture and Arts Foundation,said “We are proud to be the first ever film festival to organize 1979 and 1980’s withheld but not forgotten festivals as a part of the 48th International Golden Orange Film Festival.”