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Angels Wear White triumphs at the Antalya Film Festival

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- Mohammad Rasoulof and Sean Baker left with two of the main awards from the biggest Turkish Film Festival, which this year expanded to an international audience and focus

Angels Wear White triumphs at the Antalya Film Festival
The winners of the 2017 Antalya Film Festival

Chinese director Vivian Qu’s sophomore feature, Angels Wear White [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vivian Qu
film profile
]
, has won the Best Film Award at the 54th Antalya International Film Festival, which ran from 21-27 October. The prizes were given out at the closing-night ceremony, held at the Antalya Expo Center.

The international jury, headed up by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, and comprising Turkish actress-writer-producer Fadik Sevin Atasoy, Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz, composer and musician Kjartan Sveinsson, and playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz, handed the €50,000 prize to Qu, who also picked up the Best Actress Award on behalf of her lead actress, Wen Qi, which came with €2,500 in cash.

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This year’s Un Certain Regard winner, the Iranian film A Man of Integrity, left Antalya with two awards, with Best Director going to Mohammad Rasoulof, who cannot travel because the Iranian authorities have confiscated his passport, and Best Actor going to Reza Akhlaghirad. The awards will be accompanied by €25,000 and €2,500, respectively. Also, Sean Baker’s latest film, The Florida Project, received the Special Jury Award.

Two Turkish films that were screened as world premieres during the Antalya International Film Festival managed to snag two awards. The lead actress in Ender Özkahraman’s Ugly DucklingSukran Akti, received the Behlül Dal Award for Emerging Turkish Talent, and the audience voted The Guest by Andac Haznedaroglu as its favourite – thus it scooped the Audience Award, worth €10,000. Finally, Ana Urushadze’s debut feature, Scary Mother [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ana Urushadze
film profile
]
, received the Youth Jury Award.

Also featuring among the international guests at the closing ceremony was celebrated actor, director and scriptwriter Matt Dillon, who won an Honorary Orange Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mike Downey, artistic director of the Antalya International Film Festival, commented on the awards: “The prizes reflect some of the key issues facing the world today in works by some of the very best practitioners of cinematic art from across the globe.”

Here is the complete list of winners at the 54th Antalya International Film Festival:

Best Film
Angels Wear White [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vivian Qu
film profile
]
- Vivian Qu (France/China)

Best Director
Mohammad Rasoulof - A Man of Integrity (Iran)

Best Actor
Reza Akhlaghirad - A Man of Integrity

Best Actress
Wen Qi - Angels Wear White

Special Jury Prize
The Florida Project - Sean Baker (USA)

Behlül Dal Award for Emerging Turkish Talent
Sukran Akti - Ugly Duckling (Turkey)

Dr Avni Tolunay Audience Award
The Guest - Andac Haznedaroglu (Turkey)

Youth Jury Award
Scary Mother [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ana Urushadze
film profile
]
 - Ana Urushadze (Georgia/Estonia)

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