A provincial man who’s trying to find a job stays with his city cousin in Ceylan’s masterful third feature that probes issues of personal stasis and social alienation in contemporary Turkish society, marked by restrained performances that accrue a quiet emotional depth.
Ceylan’s meta-filmic sophomore feature feels like a Kiarostami-esque attempt at self-reflexivity, while occasionally drifting into dreamy, subliminal scenes, as a filmmaker broaches the idea of getting his parents to act in his next project.
This intense Turkish Berlinale Golden Bear winner, with one of the most sickening lead characters in world cinema, is about the blatant abuse of self-imposed power, as a greedy man builds dams to stop water from irrigating the lands of his neighbours.
A boy, forced to stay with his inmate mother in prison, finds a place of imaginative solace in a young political prisoner, as this Turkish classic subverts the ‘prison movie’ by focusing on the communal spirit of women who find a ‘home’ within the four walls.
Akin’s exuberant documentary is a work of real cultural value, capturing the vibrant if ‘unclassifiable’ Turkish underground and street music scene with an inquisitive spirit.
While not as resonating as his recent output such are his towering standards, Ceylan’s new film is still an exquisitely mounted, conversation-heavy exploration of the desire to escape from existential gloom as a village schoolteacher mulls over the prospect of a city transfer.
A seminal work of ‘60s Turkish cinema, Akad’s neorealist Western features the legendary Yilmaz Guney whose character finds himself at the crossroads between social progress and lawlessness.
A man falls in love with the portrait of a lady but refuses to be romantically involved with the real person in this incredibly gorgeous Turkish film, though it does rely too much on repetition and fatalism to work.
One of Turkey’s most underrated directors reaches new filmmaking heights in this terrific slow-burn of a psychological thriller, set in a sweltering, water-scarce town in danger of imploding.
This beautifully-shot documentary is a visual tone poem, as filmmaker Elizabeth Lo tenderly captures several street dogs in Turkey, almost entirely from the ‘dog’s eye’ view.
Eternality Tan 