‘Clair-Obscur’ wins big at Antalya

Turkish helmer Ustaoglu talks on her feminist drama

LOS ANGELES, Oct 24, (RTRS): Turkish helmer Yesim Ustaoglu’s powerful, complex portrait of two women struggling to escape unhappy lives, “ClairObscur,” was the big winner at the 53rd Antalya Int’l Film Festival, taking home the awards for best picture and best director at the closing ceremony Sunday night.

Ustaoglu’s sixth feature was the unanimous choice of an international jury headed by Hugh Hudson, who praised the film’s unflinching look at domestic violence, which he said affected women around the world.

Lead Ecem Uzun won best actress honors in both the international and national competitions for her gutwrenching portrayal of a young woman trapped in an oppressive marriage that finally pushes her over the brink.

The award for best actor went to Tamer Nafar, for his role as a Palestinian rapper using music to fight back against Israeli oppression in the musical drama “Junction 48.”

In a ceremony that frequently invoked the lives lost during a failed coup attempt in July, there was a feeling of resilience among those in attendance. Tributes were paid to the victims of the ongoing war in neighboring Syria, with Turkish thesp Menderes Samancilar (“My Father’s Wings”) dedicating his award for best actor in the national competition to Syrians, urging them, “We will always hope for tomorrow.”

For a festival that might have seemed in doubt just three months ago, the ceremony was the culmination of a triumphant week. Ustaoglu’s victory was part of a wider celebration of Turkish cinema, capped with Umit Koreken’s feature debut “Mavi Bisiklet” (Blue Bicycle) winning the Golden Orange for best film in the national competition, along with best director and screenplay awards.

Accepting a lifetime achievement award, Harvey Keitel urged young Turks to remain unbowed in the face of their current challenges, telling audiences watching at home, “We need your stories.”

Iranian helmer Asghar Farhadi was also given a lifetime achievement award Sunday night. The audience award went to Spanish dramedy “The Open Door,” which also won best screenplay for scripter Marina Seresesky. A special jury award went to the Georgian helmer Rusudan Glurjidze’s powerful debut, “House of Others.”

Feature

In the creator’s awards handed out Saturday night, “Babamin Kanatlari” (My Father’s Wings) won the best first feature award for director Kivanc Sezer, as well as the Dr Avni Tolunay special jury award.

The Behlul Dal special jury award went to Mete Gumurhan’s documentary “Genc Pehlivanlar” (Young Wrestlers), about the students at an elite boarding school hoping to find glory on the wrestling mat. It was also awarded for best editing.

Vividly lensed in the rugged hinterlands of eastern Turkey, “Rauf,” Soner Caner and Baris Kaya’s feature debut, took home awards for art director Devrim Omer Unal and cinematographer Vedat Ozdemir.

The Antalya Film Forum also wrapped with a ceremony Saturday night, awarding a number of Turkish films currently in production.

The Villa Kurt Berlin artistic support award went to “Anadolu Leopari” (Anatolian Leopard), by producer Olena Yershova Yildiz and director Emre Kayis.

The TRT award went to “Sahmerdan” (MNK Boy), by producer Zeynep Askin Korkmaz and director Mete Gumurhan.

First prize in the pitching platform went to “Kiz Kardesler” (Sisters), by producer Nadir Operli and director Emin Alper. Second prize went to “Guven” (Trust), by producer Serkan Acar and director Sefa Ozturk Colak.

The AFF Work in Progress award went to “Mr Gay Suriye” (Mr Gay Syria), by producers Ekin Calisir, Antoine Simkine, and Christine Kiauk, and director Ayse Toprak.

The Work in Progress — Digiflame Coloring and Visual Effects award went to “Daha” by producer Ziya Cemre Kutluay and director Onur Saylak.

Not long after her new movie, “Clair-Obscur,” world premiered in Toronto, an audience member asked the acclaimed Turkish helmer Yesim Ustaoglu how the powerful, provocative film would fare back home, at a time of growing conservatism in her country.

Sharing her concern with a packed house after a recent screening in Antalya, the director laughed and shrugged. “I’m showing it here tonight,” she said triumphantly.

Over the course of a career that saw her emerge two decades ago as part of a new wave of pioneering Turkish filmmakers, Ustaoglu has been a pugnacious presence in local cinema, unafraid to use politically charged themes as the backdrop for her intense interpersonal dramas.

Different

Her second, groundbreaking feature, “Journey to the Sun,” examined Turkey’s explosive Kurdish conflict through the tragic story of two friends; four years later, she explored the fate of Turkey’s Greek minority during World War I in “Waiting for the Clouds.” With her sixth feature, she uses the interwoven stories of two women from different social classes to raise questions about the limitations facing Turkish women today.

For Ustaoglu, of course, “Clair-Obscur” isn’t simply an issue-based film. “It’s not just for women,” she insists. “It’s for everyone.” But at the story’s heart is a visceral evocation of Turkish womanhood and sexuality, told with a candor not commonly seen in local films.

The helmer might argue that’s precisely the point. Ustaoglu has been outspoken throughout her career about what she sees as a reluctance by Turks to ask difficult questions about their society and the uglier chapters in their nation’s history. “It’s one of our traditions to try to hide everything,” she says.

Buried beneath the headlines of recent political unrest, for example, are the ghosts of the military coup in 1980, echoes of which rang out on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara this July after the army’s failed efforts to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. That coup ushered in a brutally repressive decade, remembered by Ustaoglu and other Turkish bizzers for how it sent the industry into a tailspin, with production all but collapsing throughout the ’80s.