The Circuit

by Nick Holdsworth
One of the world’s newer international film festivals, Antalya’s Eurasia - which this year marks its fourth edition - has lost little time in establishing a reputation for class and star pulling power.

Launched in 2005 during the 42nd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, the Eurasia - which runs Oct. 10-19 in one of Turkey’s top seaside resorts - positions itself as a crossroads event, showcasing the best of film from Europe and Asia.

With an impressive prize purse that includes $75,000 for best film and $25,000 for best director and a closing awards ceremony that takes place in a massive Roman-era coliseum, its timing - early to mid October when the Turkish Riviera remains warm - the Eurasia does not lack for guests and participants of international standing. Helen Mirren, her director husband Taylor Hackford, and Hollywood producer and director Norman Jewison are among those who have contributed to the young festival’s rapid growth in gravitas since its launch.

Eurasia director, Esra Even, notes that the festival “offers something more than the convergence of two continents and their creative offerings. Being one of the rare film events whose very title openly refers to a conjunction of cultures and geographies, the name of the festival alone promises that the event will never be lack this quality.”

Big names attending this year include Dutch director Paul Verhoeven (pictured) who heads the grand jury, and  Israeli director Amos Gitai, who will present a screening of his new film “One Day You’ll Understand” and receive an award for his “priceless contribution to the art of film.”

This year’s international competition lineup includes “Seven Days” (Shiva) by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, which opened the critics week section at Cannes this year.

With key criteria that include “freshness” and “profound and challenging insights,” the competition slate includes films that question family values in different cultures (“Seven Days” and Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Still Walking”); political and social commentary (Rashid Masharawi’s “Laila’s Birthday” and Karim Dridi’s “Khamsa”); and poignant glimpses into untold stories (Rustem Abrashev’s “The Gift to Stalin”), Even says.

“The competition section may be regarded as a condensation of the colourfulness and diversity represented by the greater lineup distributed under various section titles - theme-oriented or geography-oriented,” says Even.


The full lineup of the 4th Eurasia competition films:

“The Seven Days,” Ronit Elkabetz  &Shlomi Elkabetz, Israel
“Auritemo Auritemo” (Still Walking), Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan
“Jerichow,” Christian Petzold Germany
“The Country Teacher,” Bohdan Slama, Czech Republic
“Khamsa,” Karim Dridi, France
“The Gift of Stalin,” Rustem Abrashev, Kazakhstan
“Laila’s Birthday,” Rashid Masharawi, Palestine/Tunis/The Netherlands
“White Night Wedding,” Baltasar Kormakur, Iceland
“Machan,” Uberto Pasolini, Sri Lanka/Italy/Germany 
“Sonbahar” (Autumn), Ozcan Alper, Turkey
“Three Monkeys,” Ferzan Ozpetek, Turkey/France/Italy
“35 Rhums,” Claire Denis, France