TEHRAN-The 61st International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is underway in Turkey while the Iranian cinematographer, screenwriter, film director, and photographer Mahmoud Kalari is serving as a juror.

One of the five jurors in the International Feature Film Competition category, he will evaluate the 12 movies competing in the section, ISNA reported.

Kalari, 73, has worked with number of renowned Iranian directors such as Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi.

He is known for his cinematography on Oscar winning film “A Separation” by Asghar Farhadi, also “The Past” by Farhadi, “Shirin” by Abbas Kiarostami, and “Fish & Cat” by Shahram Mokri.

He completed photography courses in the U.S. In 1980, he was ranked one of the “15 Best Photographers of the Year” by Time Magazine, and his photos were published in French, German, and American magazines.

He started film career in 1984 as a cinematographer and since then has shot more than 65 films. His works have attended various festivals across the globe and won him many awards. He has also directed three movies and served as a jury member in several national and international events.

At this year’s edition of the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, one film from Iran, “Endless Borders” directed by Abbas Amini, is participating in the International Feature Film Competition of the festival.

A joint production of Iran, Germany, and the Czech Republic, it is a political thriller that happens at the time when the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan reignited the fire of ethnic and tribal wars.

In the movie, the Hazara Afghans, who are under immediate threat from the Taliban, enter Iran illegally. Ahmad is an exiled Iranian teacher in a poor village of Iran close to the Afghan border. When he gets acquainted with a Hazara family, he sees the real face of prejudice and dogmatism in the region. He decides to save a young forbidden love but that decision can have dire consequences for everyone.

The film won the VPRO Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the Golden Apricot at the Regional Panorama section of the 20th Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival last year.

Held annually since 1963, the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is the second most important national film festival in Turkey. This year’s edition of the festival was launched on October 5 and will run until October 12.

SS/SAB