28/09/2018 - The oldest Turkish film gathering continues to bring together cultures, ideologies and philosophies, the industry section is hosting 50 projects, and Béla Tarr is organising a directors’ workshop

Intensifying its international focus, the oldest Turkish film gathering, the International Antalya Film Festival, is getting ready for its 55^th edition. Featuring 55 films, this year’s edition will unspool over different dates, running from 29 September-5 October at the famous Mediterranean resort.

Ten films comprise the Official Selection of the 55^th International Antalya Film Festival, including award-winning films from Cannes, Berlin and Sundance, plus two Turkish productions set to enjoy their world premieres. The programme is curated by the festival’s artistic director, Mike Downey. The festival will open with Everybody Knows [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], the latest film by acclaimed Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, while Terry Gilliam’s 30-years-in-the-making The Man Who Killed Don Quixote [+see also:
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interview: Terry Gilliam
film profile] will close the event. Both movies are being showcased out of competition.

The ten fictional and documentary films that will be vying for the Golden Orange Award at the International Antalya Film Festival are Shoplifters by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan), A Twelve-Year Night [+see also:
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interview: Álvaro Brechner
film profile] by Álvaro Brechner (Spain/Argentina/France/Uruguay), Cold War [+see also:
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Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile] by Paweł Pawlikowski (Poland/UK/France), Capernaum [+see also:
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film profile] by Nadine Labaki (Lebanon/France), Ayka [+see also:
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interview: Sergey Dvortsevoy
film profile] by Sergey Dvortsevoy (Russia/Germany/Poland/Kazakhstan/China), Kailash by Derek Doneen (USA), Birds of Passage [+see also:
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film profile] by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Colombia/Denmark/Mexico), Three Faces by Jafar Panahi (Iran), Planetree by Mustafa Karadeniz (Turkey – world premiere), and Trust by Sefa Öztürk Çolak (Turkey – world premiere).

The industry side of the festival, the Antalya Film Forum (30 September-3 October), will be celebrating its fifth edition. Spanning six different platforms, and with a record number of 200 applications this year, the forum will host 50 Turkish projects at different stages of development, and their attached directors and producers. Furthermore, as Zeynep Atakan, director of the Antalya Film Forum, mentioned, the industry section is expanding. A Film Directing Workshop mentored by Béla Tarr is being organised, in which ten directors selected by the Hungarian auteur will shoot ten short films in ten days. Master classes will also be held by Tarr, Pawlikowski and Italian scriptwriter Maurizio Braucci. The Turkey Panorama is a new addition this year, screening local productions that are somehow connected to the forum and were previously selected at international film festivals.

Also, starting from next year, the Turkey Cinema Industry Awards will be held in Antalya, following in the footsteps of other such European awards, like the BAFTAs, Césars, Donatellos and Goyas. Finally, director Ferzan Özpetek and comedian Cem Yılmaz will receive Lifelong Success Awards, and American actors Eric Roberts and Kristanna Loken will be among the special guests at the festival.