Discoveries from Turkey World Cinema

The classic sarcastic hit from West Side Story becomes increasingly distorted. Faces and clatter appear and over time all kinds of sound and image distortions, from hydrolysis to pixelation, become more and more intense and take over the entire image. But the more unbearable the cacophony becomes, the more coherent the whole thing becomes.

THE CINEMA WITHIN is a documentary about the psychology of film editing, edited and directed by Chad Freidrichs (The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, The Experimental City).

The 1st National Children's Congress, which was held for the first time in Istanbul in 1991, is a platform where the problems in the world are determined and discussed by children. The documentary asks, "What kind of world do we want to live in?" and looks at the answers from children's perspectives.

All of the children, who have been abandoned by their families and continue to live in orphanages, have unique talents. Children struggling to survive are drawn into the dirty world of the streets. However, thanks to their talents and the teachers who care about them, they will manage to overcome the dangers they face.

Seval was born in prison after her mother was imprisoned for a crime her father committed in the 1980s. Seval, who has never lost her childlike spirit despite all the difficulties her family and herself have experienced, lives a humble life with her father and her cat in Aladağ, at the mountains of Adana.

When Azize loses her father at a very young age, her family moves to the village where her uncle lives. In elementary school, when she is sent to watch over her siblings, she meets football that changes her life. No matter how hard she tries to fulfill her dream, it always ends in failure. Just when she starts losing hope, she becomes a licensed football player at the age of 48. However, struggles never finish for a woman football player.

The Sin of Being a Woman is the story of a brave woman who fought an uphill battle against prejudice, convention and authority. The film resurrects and honours the memory of Nezihe Muhiddin, who successfully fought for women's right to vote in Turkey. It tells the story of an individual that the establishment has erased from the history books because her legacy reveals inconvenient truths.

The revenge story of a poor man, whose love interest gets raped.

The film tells the story of a street singer and the girl he loves. Osman wanders the streets with his young bandmates, singing songs. He dreams of becoming rich one day and marrying Müjgan. One day, while singing in a wealthy neighborhood, he is discovered. He offers to make Osman a famous singer. At first, Osman does not take the offer seriously, but he eventually gives in to the woman's persistence. However, this decision will mark the beginning of a difficult period for Müjgan.

Can, a mysterious man, has a traumatic past. In order to escape the events he experienced as a child, Can chooses to leave his village and start a new life for himself. Can, who spent his life studying in a boarding school far from his hometown, has only his grandmother as his surviving relative. His past haunting him causes his life and marriage to turn into a nightmare. Deciding to confront his past, Can sets off for his village with his wife Ezgi.

Abraham and his pregnant wife Sarah are going to a hospital with a suspicion of miscarriage. They are sitting in the back seat of a taxi. The places the car passes by reflects the inner worlds of the couple, in a way these things the car passes by turn into their inner worlds: While they are going towards the hospital, the birth part of the Birth-Death cycle is seen outside. While they are going back, the death part of the same cycle is seen.

A single mom in her early 30's, Burcu, lives together with her infant son who constantly sees hallucinations of a crawling woman at their house. When the school counselor starts digging to the root of the problem; a haunting reality is revealed.

The film tells the story of Hürkuş, Aslan, and their friends' struggle against drones that come to life thanks to the magnetic field emitted by a meteorite that falls to Earth.

Ali, an alcoholic and unrespected man, lives a modest life in Istanbul. His world changes when Ekrem, a notorious gangster known as “Yakışıklı,” seeks refuge in his home after committing murder.

The film tells the epic struggle of Musa, who makes a living as a doorman in a big city, for the sake of a hadith. It brings to the fore the instructive contradictions we live with, the hypocrisy and indifference in human relationships. With his sometimes excessive sensitivity, Doorman Musa tries to convey the virtues that society needs.

At a time when excessive deforestation has escalated the effects of global warming, a desperate old man looks for a shady spot where he can take refuge from the scorching heat.

The story is set in a tiny Kurdish village. Isa’s younger brother is murdered and brought back to his hometown. Two weeks after the funeral, his mother Zîn dreams of giving a wedding celebration for her deceased son. This strange idea sparks off a host of contradictory feelings within her, and between her and Isa and family members, who are still reeling from the trauma and grief of losing a brother. The family gradually proceeds into a grey area in their relationship. These ordinary people find themselves living in a psychological minefield wrestling on the planes between logic, norms, emotions, and irrationality.

The story of rivalry between two forms of winter transport: the horse-drawn sleigh which can take the short cut over the frozen lake and the red minibus which needs to be more devious to beat its rival. While the race goes on other tales of intransigence are told in this land of bards and minstrels.

The story of a man who suffered injustice and was eventually cleared by a court ruling.

Tuğba is a young woman who lost her parents in mysterious circumstances many years ago. Tuğba, who is pursuing a master's degree in archaeology, comes across traces of an ancient sect called Humruz while conducting her research in the vicinity of Derinsuyluk village. Determined to investigate this matter, Tuğba sets off for the region with the guidance of her brother Selim and her advisor. Arriving at the region late at night, Tuğba is forced to confront chilling truths.

Mustafa lives in Kars with his 8 years old disabled son Rıza and his wife Suna.

The story of a teenager who becomes a famous singer with the help of a woman.

A study of the human body's marks and scars, where every unique trace becomes a point of connection, reflecting the shadows of the world around us.

On his way to a job interview, Beşer steps into an elevator. Suddenly, it halts. As reality begins to slip, time and space blur. Trapped between worlds, Beşer is forced to confront a single question: "What does a person live for?"

Earthquake, flood, fire or war and streets... We are living in the streets. Our life are in gamble here - Where it will be before die?

Tomatoes, peppers, and all the other plants in Adana’s Çetirevli village survive on medications, just like the diagnosed depression patients who make up half of the village population. As the production of pepper paste—the village’s source of livelihood—goes through various stages such as harvesting, sorting, and grinding, the burden of physically heavy work on people’s mental worlds gradually increases. During a summer coinciding with the pepper harvest, the director retraces the summer memories of her childhood and pursues the question, "how to make pepper paste when depressed? The camera follows her uncle Mehmet, who suffers from depression, his wife Naziye, and her elder uncle Yakup, who lives in the same house and also grapples with depression.

Narrative revolves around an individual confined within the constraints of their existing reality, yearning to break free into a dream world—only to realize that the dream world had been their prison all along.

Jilet Ömer sets out on what he imagines will be a straightforward quest for love, until he meets the enchanting Leyla. Things take a wild turn when Mine pops into the picture, turning his romantic pursuit into a full-blown juggling act. As if that weren’t enough, a colorful crew of characters (Yırtık Bayram, Mualla, Rıfkı, Şakir Üfürür, Uşak Hasan, Madam, and Naciye) start crashing the scene. Each one adds their own layer of mix-ups, mistaken identities, and unpredictable surprises, so that what began as a simple love story quickly spirals into a hilarious maze of overlapping romances and comic misadventures.

A Production Company rents a Manor as their new office. It's an uneasy place with ancient gravestones at the yard and a scarface keeper. They prepare for celebration at their new place. However, some evil forces are in preparation aswell.