Turkish film festival cancelled after row over censorship

A municipality in southern Turkey on Friday cancelled a 60-year-old film festival after a controversy over a political documentary.

"I regret to inform filmgoers that we cancelled this year's Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival scheduled for Oct. 7-14 due to events beyond our control," Antalya Mayor Muhittin Bocek said in a post on X.

The festival, Turkey's most prestigious, last week removed the documentary "Kanun Hukmu" or "Decree" about a physician and a teacher who were dismissed from their government jobs under a state of emergency after a failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.

The festival on Thursday reversed that decision after many directors withdrew films from the festival and jury members resigned, saying they were protesting censorship and threats to artistic expression."

Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry withdrew its support from the festival on Thursday, accusing the organisers of allowing "terror propaganda." The festival then eliminated the documentary again and the city on Friday cancelled the entire festival.

Nejla Demirci, the director of the documentary, rejected the government's propaganda accusation, saying that none of the featured people was convicted of any crime.

After the failed coup, the government dismissed more than 125,000 state employees, saying they were connected to the coup attempt and defending the move as necessary for national security. Critics said the Turkish government used the failed putsch as a pretext to quash dissent.