Cancellation of the Golden Orange Film Festival in Turkey

Golden Orange Film Festival

The most prestigious film festival in Turkey, the Golden Orange Film Festival, was canceled at the last minute due to a crisis surrounding the film “The Law.” The film was removed from the competition by the festival committee. In response, the jury members stated that they would not tolerate censorship and that they would either quit if the film was not reinstated to the program.

As the festival management refused to meet their demands, the jury members resigned, and 28 directors subsequently refused to submit their films to the festival. Jury president actress Demet Akbağ announced her resignation.

The mayor of Antalya and the festival director rushed to assure the press that the event would take place and promised to reinstate the film to the program. However, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that it was withdrawing its support for the Golden Orange Film Festival, stating that the film portrays terrorists as victims of circumstance rather than criminals.

The festival director announced that the film had been removed from the festival for a second time and admitted that he feared for his life. He is now under investigation.