Antalya, Turkey: Outdoor Film Festival Has Mixed Reviews
The 45th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival- Turkey's premier outdoor movie event- failed on organization and security on its first day by leaving the city's locals locked out of the opening ceremony. While the famous faces of the silver screen cinema critics, artists and directors walked the red carpet and saluted to cameras and people waiting to see them as they exited their limousines, the locals who were invited were left waiting at the back door of the KonyaaltД± Open air theater, where the opening ceremony was held Friday night.
The shuttles took press members and guests who were invited to the ceremony and brought them to the back door, which has traditionally been open for them to enter the outdoor movie venue without having to weave through the crowds on the red carpet. This year a closed, guarded door greeted locals in lieu of a welcoming committee.
"We cannot let you in from this door," said the security guard, whereas the locals objected, shouting that the entrance was the one used for entering the theater for the opening of the outdoor film festival for many years. Some locals left in disappointment, while others waited until they were let in 40 minutes after the start of the ceremony.
I have attended all the opening ceremonies of the festival for the past 10 years and I have never experienced anything this rude, said SД±dal IЕџД±k, one of the guests who stayed out. I hate telling this kind of things, but I am the wife of one of the founding members of this festival, Melih IЕџД±k. I attend the festival every year and we are always invited to the opening ceremonies of the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, said IЕџД±k, standing next to a close friend with disappointment written all over her face.
She was not the only one who was outraged. An elderly woman with an injured leg was told by a security guide to walk to the main gate, where the red carpet leads the guests inside the open air theater. A guest from Cyprus, Murat Obenler, was surprised that such a thing could happen at one of the biggest festivals in Turkey. Having been invited for the first time, Obenler said, This is an unbelievably rude attitude toward the guests. Obenler, who is organizing film festivals back in Cyprus, emphasized that no organizer listened to what they were saying. The door was shut to our face, and from the other side of the fences we heard the security guards saying, вЂWe cannot let you in; you have to walk to the main gate.'
Д°smail Д°zgi, who is responsible for security, told the Turkish Daily News they were instructed not to let anybody in the back door this year. Saying there was no one responsible for warning the guests or the shuttle drivers not to come to the gate, Д°zgi acknowledged there was a lack of communication.
Most of the guests left the venue saying they would never attend to the festival again, and others were let in by Д°zgi later. He apologized after the ceremony started.