The countdown begins for the 53rd Antalya International Film Festival, which is hosted by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and festival chairman Menderes Türel and Festival Director Elif Dağdeviren. Some 12 films, including two documentaries, have been nominated for Golden Orange awards as part of the National Feature Film Competition of the festival. The anthology of the 53rd festival, which consists of films having considerable success on a national and international scale, indicates that Turkish cinema has been gradually rejuvenating itself. The Golden Orange nominees include leading names of New Turkish Cinema and their brand new works include Yeşim Ustaoğlu's "Tereddüt" (Clair-obscur), and Derviş Zaim's "Rüya" (Dream). It is also noteworthy that eight directors nominated for Golden Orange awards are competing with their debut feature films, while two are competing for their second features. Six out of the 12 films focus on female main characters and three films focus on children. The anthology in general focuses on family relations, which introduces thematic diversity and different perspectives to our male-dominated cinema.EŞİK (VERGE)A city on the threshold of a country… A road on the threshold of the city… A two-story house on the threshold of the road… The film portrays the lives of two different generations living together in a house and swaying on the brink of madness. Stories of two generations, two women mirroring each other, and the stories of the women which also mirror each other… Directed by Ayhan Salar and Erkan Tahhuşoğlu, "Eşik" (Verge) is to make its Turkey premiere at Antalya Film Festival. The film competed at the East of the West Award, also as part of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Senem Çelikkol, Bedia Yaman, Mine Özen and Raci Küçük play the leading roles in the film.GENÇ PEHLIVANLAR (YOUNG WRESTLERS)They live, learn and suffer for their passions: some 26 children at Amasya Wrestling Center's Boarding School grapple with a series of hardships to be future wrestling champions. Directed by Mete Gümürhan, the film made its World Premiere at the Berlinale Generation. It expresses the problems encountered during puberty in a patriarchal society. With the close and non-intervening gaze of the director, we bear witness to the daily lives of the children caught in between friendship and rivalry in the film. The film is one of the two documentaries competing for the National Feature Film Competition.MAVİ BİSİKLET (BLUE BICYCLE)"Mavi Bisiklet" (Blue Bicycle) tells the melancholic story of a child who comes up struggling to earn a living, and who experiences democracy and election campaigns at a very early age. The 13-year-old Ali lives with his mother and sister after the death of his father and works at a tire repair shop when not at school. He gives his wages to his mother and saves his tips to buy himself a blue bicycle he dreams about. However, he decides to put the money he saved into an election campaign to make his friend Elif student president. Although Elif is elected as student president, the headmaster appoints another child as the interim president. It is the first feature film from Ümit Köreken, who is also an author, and was screened at various world festivals including the 66th Berlin Film Festival Generation Kplus Competition. The cast includes Selim Kaya, Eray Kılınçarslan, Katya Shenkova and Fatih Koca.

TEREDDÜT (CLAIR-OBSCUR)The latest film by Yeşim Ustaoğlu, who is one of the prominent directors of Turkish cinema with the themes and esthetics in her movies, "Tereddüt" (Clair-obscur) made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. The film is the brand new product of the director's meticulousness, which is her distinguishing feature. "Clair-obscur" also masterfully portrays the problems women face in the patriarchal order regardless of their class.

RÜYA (DREAM)Having been one of the most influential figures in Turkish cinema since his first film "Somersault in a Coffin" (1996), Derviş Zaim attends the 53rd Antalya International Film Festival this year with his new film "Dream." This film comprises his latest attempt to depict the primeval subjects of humanity with his flexible employment of time and space combined with philosophy and his unique style inspired by traditional arts. Zaim focuses his gaze on architecture this time. The film narrates the story of an architect who strives to maintain the heritage handed down by tradition and history. The architect comes face to face with the realities of contemporary Istanbul during the film, which is conveyed by means of extraordinary fictional elements. Gizem Erdem, Ebru Helvacıoğlu, Dilşat Bozyiğit, Gizem Akman and Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu share the leading roles in the film.

BABAMIN KANATLARI (MY FATHER'S WINGS)Competing at the 51st Karlovy Vary Film Festival and directed by Kıvanç Sezer, "Babamın Kanatları" (My Father's Wings) narrates a family tragedy revolving around the harsh working conditions of construction workers and the subcontractors violating their rights. Depicting a sector which symbolizes rising and falling, corruption and prosperity, and reflecting a specific time period through the helplessness of a father, the movie features veteran actor Menderes Samancılar alongside young and dynamic actors including Musab Ekici, Kübra Kip and Tansel Öngel.

RÜZGARDA SALINAN NİLÜFER (THE SWAYING WATERLILY)Director Seren Yüce, who won the Lion of the Future prize at 67th Venice Film Festival and won Golden Orange Awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor with her first feature film "Majority," appears in the Antalya International Film Festival again with "Rüzgarda Salınan Nilüfer" (Swaying Waterlily). In the film, which won the Best Script Award at the 40th Montreal Film Festival, Yüce resumes making social criticisms she first embarked on with "Majority." Yüce masterfully expresses covert socio-economic conflicts hiding behind the friendship between two families from different cultural strata of the middle class. Songül Öden, Tülay Günal, Tolga Tekin and Eraslan Sağlam play leading roles in the film.

TOZ (DUST)

Gözde Kural ventured to choose Afghanistan as a setting for her first feature film "Toz" (Dust). Making its world premiere at Montreal World Film Festival, "Dust" is also to be screened at Antalya International Film Festival. In the film, Kural tells the story of three Afghan siblings. Born in Istanbul, Azra heads to Afghanistan as her mother's last wish. Each connection she makes while confronting her family history drags her into a new labyrinth of stories. Reflecting on the influence of wars on people's fates through family secrets, the film also presents the audience an opportunity to view a profile of today's Afghanistan from an insider's perspective. Öykü Karayel, Beran Soysal and Muhammed Cangören share the leading roles in the film.SİYAH KARGA (BLACK CROW)Sara, who leaves her homeland Iran at the age of 21 to pursue her dreams of acting, lives in France for nine years. Her family denies her and her entrance into Iran is forbidden. But she decides to go anyway through illegal methods through Turkey in order to see her dying father for the last time. Renowned for his film "Trace" (2011), M. Tayfur Aydın says about this lyrical road film, "I wanted to understand and express the pain suffered by the people living away from their homeland no matter where they are or what conditions they have. " The film features Şebnem Hassanisoughi and Aziz Çapkurt, the latter having won Golden Orange for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Annemin Şarkısı" (Song of My Mother).RAUF

Directed by Barış Kaya and Soner Caner, who put their experience in the advertising and cinema sectors to good use in the director's chair, "Rauf" depicts the romantic dreams of a child in a vision of life enriched by myths and tales in Anatolia. The traditional way of rural life, the master-apprentice relationship, which is still a societal dynamic in rural areas, and breathtaking views of nature accompany the plot. Alen Gürsoy, Yavuz Gürbüz and Şeyda Sözüer appear in the leading roles. The film has started to be invited to world festivals after receiving support from the Antalya Film Forum, "Rauf" has been selected as one of the best 50 films of the year by European Film Academy (EFA).ALBÜM (ALBUM)Having won the France 4 Visionary Award at Cannes Film Festival Critics Week, where the film also had its world premiere, and having received the FIPRESCI Award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, "Albüm" (Album) is a black comedy directed by Mehmet Can Mertoğlu. The film is concerned about the problem of racism and the hypocrisy of bourgeois ethics. It centers upon the story of a young couple who adopts a baby and tries to keep the adoption a secret by making a photo album consisting of fake pregnancy and birth photos and moving to another city. Şebnem Bozoklu and Murat Kılıç are playing the couple, while other leading actors include Zuhal Gencer Erkaya, Muttalip Müjdeci, Müfit Kayacan and Rıza Akın.

ORHAN PAMUK'A SÖYLEMEYİN KARS'TA ÇEKTİĞİM FİLMDE KAR ROMANI DA VAR (DON'T TELL ORHAN PAMUK THAT HIS NOVEL 'SNOW' IS IN THE FILM I MADE ABOUT KARS)

Rıza Sönmez, a popular actor in our cinema, is behind the camera for this film. Inspired by a visually impaired musician Sönmez met in Kars province during the shooting of the film "Cold" by Uğur Yücel and hearing from the locals of Kars that the writer Orhan Pamuk's novel named "Snow" do not reflect the realities of Kars, Sönmez set up his camera in the city. He filmed the story of Yüksel, who has to find a musician very quickly in order to welcome his very important guests, and Kazım, a barber who is an admirer of Pamuk and photographs people, streets and objects reminiscing the portrayals in the novel Snow. Sönmez shot the film basing on improvisations. This docu-drama, which is full of humor, is making its premiere at the Antalya International Film Festival. The cast of the film includes Yüksel Ermutlu, İsrafil Parlak, Vildan Atasever and Haydar Koçolu.