A municipality in southern Turkey canceled a 60-year-old film festival on Friday following controversy over the removal of a documentary depicting the plight of victims of Turkey’s post-coup purges.
Antalya Mayor Mukhitin Becek said: “We regret to inform movie fans that due to events beyond our control, this year’s Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, scheduled to run from October 7th to 14th, will be cancelled. We would like to inform you that it has been cancelled,” he said in a post to X.
Last week, the festival’s organizing committee decided to remove the documentary “Kanun Hukmü” (With the Force of Law), which focuses on the hardships faced by the victims of the Turkish government’s large-scale purge of state institutions. . The 2016 coup attempt failed and drew strong criticism from victims and activists.
Later, authorities rebelled against the decision to cancel Kanun Hükmü and reinstated the film after the producers and directors of 27 films announced their withdrawal from the festival.
Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on Thursday that it had withdrawn support for Golden Orange after the organizing committee reversed its decision to remove the documentary, accusing the organizers of allowing “terrorist propaganda”.
The festival’s sponsors also joined the ministry in expressing their support.
On Thursday, the committee decided again to remove the documentary from the festival following the ministry’s move.
The city canceled the entire festival on Friday.
The Golden Orange Film Festival is organized by the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, which is run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and the Antalya Culture and Arts Foundation.
The documentary, directed by Nejila Demirci, explores the challenges faced by Yasemin, a doctor, and Engin, a teacher, who lost their civil service jobs due to the Post-Coup Emergency Decree (known as KHK) issued by the Justice and Development Party (AKP). focused. ) Government.
The documentary was already the subject of a ruling last year by the Constitutional Court, which found that the local authorities’ ban on filming violated freedom of expression and awarded Demirci 13,500 Turkish liras in compensation.
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