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Turkish Cinema – Adana’s Golden Cocoon welcomes Turkish films

Ten Turkish films that will compete at the 17th Golden Cocoon International Film Festival were launched at a press conference Monday.

The 17th Golden Cocoon International Film Festival will be held from Sept. 20 to 26 in Adana. Ten Turkish films made within the last year earned the right to compete in the festival’s competition for national feature films while the event will also feature contests for student-made films as well as entries from Turkey’s Mediterranean neighbors.

In one of the city’s most anticipated cultural events of the year, Adana is preparing for the 17th Golden Cocoon International Film Festival, during which 10 Turkish films will headline the event’s National Feature Film Competition.

“The festival has become one of he most important cultural events in the country. Our goal is to continue this festival for many years,” Festival General Coordinator Ozan Aksu said Monday at a press conference in the southern city to promote the event, which runs from Sept. 20 to 26.

Aksu said the Golden Cocoon Film Festival, which was organized for the first time in 1961 under the title Golden Cocoon Film Feast, had improved greatly since then, showcasing much richer content.

Forty Turkish films made within the last year applied to the festival’s National Feature Film Competition, National Feature Film Competition jury member, scriptwriter and director Işıl Özgentürk said, adding that 10 gained the right to compete.

Özgentürk said a monetary award would be given to the films in the competition. “It is very expensive to make a film. More contributions will make the Turkish cinema sector more diverse.”

The films this year include Semih Kaplanoğlu’s “Bal” (Honey), Onur Ünlü’s “Beş Şehir” (Five Cities), Atıl İnanç’s “Büyük Oyun” (Great Game), Nesli Çölgeçen’s “Denizden Gelen” (Brought By The Sea), Hakan Algül’s “Eyvah Eyvah,” Selim Demirdelen’s “Kavşak” (Intersection), Seki Demirkubuz’s “Kıskanmak” (Envy), Levent Semerci’s “Nefes: Vatan Sağolsun” (The Breath), Melik Saraçoğlu and Hakkı Kurtuluş’s “Orada” (There) and “Ümit Ünal’s “Ses” (The Voice).

Competition and participation

Meanwhile, the Mediterranean Countries Short Film Competition is open to countries from around the sea and includes documentary, experimental, fictional and animation categories, said Hilmi Etikan, a director for both the Mediterranean competition and the National Students Films Competition.

Etikan said 368 films from various countries applied to the Mediterranean competition, adding that 11 documentary films, eight experimental films, 28 fictional films and 14 animation films were selected for the event.

At the same time, eight documentary films, seven experimental films, 10 fictional films and eight animation films will compete in the student competition, to which undergraduate students studying at cinema and television departments of Turkey’s communications and fine arts faculties were eligible, he said.

Guest of Honor and Honorary Awards

As part of the festival, Greek director Theo Angelopoulos will attend as the guest of honor. Actress Müjde Ar and film critic Atilla Dorsay, meanwhile, will be presented with lifetime achievement awards during a ball for the guests of honor on Sept. 23. A selection of Ar’s films will also screened during the night.

The festival will also showcase selected works from the wider world of cinema as part of its “Fipresci: Critics Don’t Miss It!” and “Palestine-Longing For Peace” events.

Turkish artists Sibel Can, Zuhal Olcay, Göksel and Erol Evgin will also perform at the festival.

Organizers originally planned to stage the festival from June 7 to 13 but later postponed it due to the May 31 Gaza flotilla raid by Israel that killed nine aid activists in the Mediterranean and a terrorist rocket attack on the İskenderun Naval Base.

At the time, Adana Deputy Mayor Mustafa Tuncel said, “We can’t have fun while people are crying.”

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