Yüce’s critically acclaimed debut was leading the pack for the 2010 Yeşilçam Awards with 11 nominations in a total of 13 categories, but it managed to grab only four awards: best picture, best first film and best screenplay for Yüce, along with best new talent for actress Esme Madra at Monday’s ceremony at the Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Center.
“Çoğunluk,” which started its winning streak with the Lion of the Future Award for debut films at last year’s Venice film festival, recounts the mental transformation of the son of a middle-class family in İstanbul following his encounter with a Kurdish girl. The film went on to win numerous awards both in Turkey and abroad, including the best film and best director awards at the national feature competition in last year’s Altın Portakal (Golden Orange) film festival and the acting awards it won in last month’s Turkish Film Critics Association (SİYAD) Awards.
The star-studded “Av Mevsimi” also grabbed four awards in Monday’s ceremony, mainly dominating acting awards, as its stand-up comedian lead Cem Yılmaz won best actor. Okan Yalabık won best supporting actor and Melisa Sözen won best supporting actress for their roles in “Av Mevsimi,” which also brought the best director of photography award to Uğur İçbak.
Reha Erdem secured his place as Turkey’s best filmmaker for the second year in a row in Monday’s ceremony when he won best director for “Kosmos,” his semi-fantastic tale of a small-time thief who works miracles. Erdem won the same award in last year’s Yeşilçam Awards for his critically acclaimed “Hayat Var” (My Only Sunshine). “Kosmos” also won the best editing award in Monday’s ceremony.
In other categories, Demet Akbağ won best actress for her role in the comedy “Eyyvah Eyvah,” while best soundtrack went to “Kavşak” (The Crossing) and best art direction to Hakan Yarkın for the comedy “Yahşi Batı” (The Ottoman Cowboys).
The Yeşilçam Awards were launched in 2008 by the İstanbul-based Turkish Foundation for Cinema and Audiovisual Culture (TÜRSAK) in a bid to support Turkey’s cinema industry. Turkish productions released in the past year are eligible to compete for the awards, which organizers bill as the “Turkish equivalent of the Oscars.”
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