International Antalya Film Festival

The jury lineup for the International Competition of the 53rd International Antalya Film Festival has been completed. British filmmaker Hugh Hudson will serve as president, alongside Andie MacDowell, Rutger Hauer, Najwa Najjar, Nursel Köse, Wash Westmoreland and Mirsad Purivatra.

Organized by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, these respected film industry professionals will perform their duties between 16-23 October, 2016.

The jury will be chaired by Hugh Hudson, director of the Academy Award-winning drama Chariots of Fire (1981), Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan (1984), and the historical drama Revolution (1985, re-edited, 2008) – the latter starring Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland and Nastassja Kinski. His subsequent films include My Life So Far (1999), I Dreamed of Africa (2000) and Altamira (2016).

Mr Hudson is joined by two other filmmakers: Najwa Najjar, maker of Pomegranates and Myrrh (2009), and a passionate advocate of Palestinian cinema; and American writer-director Wash Westmoreland, maker of Quinceanera (2006) and the 2014 Academy Award-winning drama Still Alice.

Also on the jury are three highly esteemed actors:

Dutch veteran Rutger Hauer first came to international attention in Paul Verhoeven’s critically-acclaimed WWII drama Soldier of Orange (1977), before achieving legendary status in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982). Since then he has amassed a lengthy string of credits, including Flesh & Blood (1985), The Hitcher (1986), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002).

American fashion model Andie MacDowell made her feature film debut in 1984 opposite Christopher Lambert in Hugh Hudson’s Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, and followed it with an incendiary, critically-lauded performance in Steven Soderbergh’s Palme d’Or-winning sex, lies and videotape (1989). Among her other credits: Green Card (Peter Weir, 1990), Short Cuts (Robert Altman, 1993), Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993), and, of course, Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994).

Finally, there is Turkey’s Nursel Köse, best known internationally for her performance in Fatih Akın’s film The Edge of Heaven. In addition to her acclaimed role in Feo Aladag’s When We Leave (2010), Ms. Köse is herself a former winner of a Best Supporting Actress award – at the 52nd Golden Orange Film Festival – for her role Kuzu in Kutluğ Ataman’s 2014 film of the same name. She will soon be seen in Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky’s forthcoming Die Hölle.

Rounding out the jury is Mirsad Purivatra, founder of the International Sarajevo Film Festival – now regarded as one of the most important events in its region – and co-producer of many highly acclaimed films, including Once Upon a Time in Anatolia by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada.

The International Feature Film Jury will bestow Golden Orange awards in the following categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Music, Best Actress and Best Actor. In addition, the Best Film winner will be awarded 50,000 Euro.