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Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
Turkey's film-makers tackle burning contemporary issues PICAP Iron in the Soul: The Adventure of Sukran The Lame
Iron in the Soul: The Adventure of Sukran The Lame

THIS year’s Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival — the 56th — entered a new chapter following a two-year tug of war between Antalya’s former mayor Menderes Turel, a member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), and the country’s independent film-making community over its direction.

As the city council bankrolls the festival, Turel had been able to control the national competition but that ended last March when he lost his seat to centre-left candidate Muhittin Bocek in local elections, which saw the AKP lose control.

This meant that this year’s festival heralded the return of the national feature film competition, as well as documentaries and shorts.  

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