22.10.2026 11:12
Hosted by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, the 63rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, the first of which was held in 1964 through the initiative of Avni Tolunay, will be held this year between October 24 and 31, 2026. This year, a total of 11 million lira in awards will be given in different categories.
The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Turkey's longest-running film festival, meets cinema lovers for the 63rd time with its huge selection of 115 films. Designed with an environmentally friendly approach specifically for the upcoming COP31 UN Climate Change Conference, the festival will replace printed publications with digital versions while also measuring the festival's carbon footprint. Büşra Özdemir, Acting Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, said, 'The festival is a living tradition and a labor of 63 years, and we stand firmly behind this labor. This is not only Antalya's festival but our country's festival, this country's Oscar, its Grammy.'
Hosted by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, the 63rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, first held in 1964 through Avni Tolunay's initiative, will be organized this year between October 24 and 31, 2026. The festival's symbol, the 'Venus' statues, have been placed at different points across the city, with this year's slogan set as 'Always'.
The festival will begin on Saturday, October 24 with the traditional cortege, and on the same day the opening ceremony with a red carpet will be held at Antalya Indoor Sports Hall. The traditional cortege, eagerly awaited and followed by city residents and held with the participation of artists, will take place on October 24 at 14:30. The cortege will start in front of Cam Piramit, follow 100th Year, Güllük and Atatürk avenues, and end at Karaalioğlu Park. The opening ceremony, where the red carpet will also be held and which will be hosted by Pınar Altuğ and Emre Kınay, will be organized at 19:30 at Antalya Sports Hall. The opening ceremony will be open to public participation. The closing and award ceremony will be held on October 31 at Cam Piramit.
HONOR AND ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS WILL BE PRESENTED AT THE OPENING CEREMONY
At the gala, Menderes Samancılar and Tilbe Saran will receive the Honorary Award, Abdurrahman Keskiner and Suzan Kardeş the Cinema Labor Award, while young actors Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu and Leyla Smyrna Cabas will receive the Young Achievement Awards. This year the 'Special Award for Contribution to Cinema' will be given to Beşiktaş Culture Center (BKM).
11 MILLION LIRA IN AWARDS WILL BE GIVEN
This year, the grand prize in the festival's National Feature Film Competition has been set at 5 million lira. At the festival, awards will also be given for the Dr. Avni Tolunay Jury Special Award, Behlül Dal Best First Film Award, Best Director Award, Cahide Sonku Award, Best Screenplay Award, Best Cinematography Award, Best Music Award, Best Editing Award, Best Art Director Award, Best Actress Award, Best Actor Award, Best Supporting Actress Award, Best Supporting Actor Award, Best Documentary Film, and Best Short Film. Along with 5 awards to be given in the Film Forum category, a total of 11 million lira in awards will be presented.
RENOWNED NAMES WILL SERVE ON THE JURY
Master director Derviş Zaim will serve as jury president of the National Feature Film Competition, while jury members include Fatih Artman, Meryem Uzerli, Aylin Zoi Tinel, Elif Demoğlu, Sırma Bradley and Rahman Altın. Cinematographer Andreas Sinanos will serve as jury president of the international competition, while Nejat İşler, Yasmine Al Massri, Maryna Er Gorbach and Fadik Sevin Atasoy will sit on the jury.
FILMS WILL BE SCREENED IN 16 DISTRICTS
Within the scope of the festival this year, 115 films will be screened, 90 of which will premiere for the first time. The films will be shown in the Aspendos and Perge halls at Atatürk Cultural Center and in cinema halls in 3 different shopping malls. Tickets for the festival films, which went on sale in recent days and drew great interest, have been set at a discounted 20 lira and full 50 lira. Within the scope of the festival, films will also be brought to citizens through 'Traveling Cinema' events to be held in 16 different districts. Meanwhile, the 'Accessible Films' selection will meet cinema lovers at Golden Orange. The films to be shown within the selection will be screened accessibly with audio description for the visually impaired and detailed subtitles for the hearing impaired.
4 FILMS WILL HOLD GALAS
In the special section titled 'Roots, Light and Camera', which will meet cinema lovers within the festival's international program, films by filmmakers who continue to produce under the shadow of war are included. In the special selection featuring 13 films, striking films from Iranian, Palestinian, Ukrainian and Lebanese cinema will meet festival audiences. Meanwhile, galas will also be held at the festival for the films 'The Sleeping Woman', 'Dance with the Jackals 8: The Stuttgart Operation', 'The Last Game' and 'The Last Supper'.
COP31 VISION AT THE FESTIVAL
Arrangements have also been made at the festival regarding the COP31 UN Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Antalya between November 9 and 20. At the festival, where sensitivity to the climate crisis is shown, all materials previously provided in print have been moved to digital. This year the festival catalog and festival newspaper will reach cinema lovers only digitally, and after the festival, the carbon footprint created by the festival will be measured.
'WE WILL MEET THEM WITH A BEAUTIFUL CORTEGE'
Speaking about the festival, Büşra Özdemir, Acting Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, said that the Golden Orange Film Festival is Turkey's most established and prestigious film festival. Özdemir said, 'Antalya will experience cinema and art to the full. Our festival will begin with the traditional cortege as always. The participation of our citizens is important to us; we will be before them with a beautiful cortege that will make them happy. In the evening, at 19:30, at Antalya Sports Hall, in our 10,000-seat hall, we will open the curtain with an opening ceremony that all our citizens can attend free of charge and that is open to our citizens. Our ceremonies, where honor, labor, achievement and special awards find their owners, will take place with Pınar Altuğ and Emre Kınay's wonderful opening and closing presentations.'
THE FESTIVAL'S CARBON FOOTPRINT WILL BE MEASURED
Acting Mayor Özdemir, who said they made arrangements at the festival against the climate crisis within the scope of COP31, said, 'Antalya this year hosts one of Turkey's largest international organizations, the COP31 Climate Summit. We also opened a space for this in our festival and prioritized an environmentally friendly approach along with green sets. By moving to digital printing, we moved away from printed materials. This year, by measuring our carbon footprint for the first time, we want to announce our environmentally friendly approach from Antalya to the whole world. This year we will have special screenings for our children and our accessible selection. We wanted to open a door, to open a parenthesis, to the accessibility of cinema. Our truck, traveling through 16 of our districts for 8 days, will bring our films together with cinema lovers. In addition, the fact that 90 of the 115 films to be screened will premiere in Antalya for the first time and meet their audience is a great source of pride for us.'
FILMS SHOT IN THE SHADOW OF WAR WILL BE SCREENED
Acting Mayor Özdemir, stating that they want to support filmmakers who produce despite all the difficulties created by war, said, 'We said 'Always' this year and we continue on our path with determination.We want the light of cinema burning here to be reflected first across all of Turkey and then to the world. We also wanted to reflect onto the screen the labor of filmmakers who continue to produce despite the devastation caused by war and all the difficulties. Our films coming from Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and Ukraine will be on the screen this year. 13 of our films will be screened under the title 'Roots, Light and Camera,' he said.
'NOT JUST ANTALYA'S, BUT OUR COUNTRY'S FESTIVAL'
Deputy Mayor Özdemir, who called for experiencing the festival together, said, 'On October 31, at Cam Piramit, we will again hold our closing ceremony with the presentation of Emre Kınay and Pınar Altuğ, and our Golden Orange statuettes will find their owners. This is not just Antalya's festival. The Golden Orange Film Festival is a tradition and an effort that have lived for 63 years, and we firmly stand behind this effort. This is not just Antalya's festival, but our country's festival, this country's Oscar, its Grammy. Let us experience this together; may the light of art continue to shine from Antalya,' he said.