Discoveries from Turkey World Cinema

An island off the coast of Turkey is about to be evacuated due to a possible earthquake but its inhabitants have been stricken with a mysterious illness, consigning them to an uncertain fate.

The film tells the story of a woman who struggles to keep her family together after being cheated on. Emine lives with her family in her father-in-law's house. When she catches her husband Reşit with their neighbor Şükran, the young woman takes her baby and leaves home. Her daughter Nermin chooses to stay with her grandfather. While her relatives try to convince Emine to return home, Reşit brings his lover into the house. However, Şükran treats Nermin and her grandfather poorly. Additionally, she begins to cheat on Reşit with her boss. Upon learning of the situation, Emine must make a choice to save her family.

At the age of seventeen, Zahide is married off to a man fifteen years her senior. Within the sixth month of their marriage, her husband passes away, leaving her pregnant. A few months later, she gives birth to their child.Soon after, Zahide’s sister is also married—this time to the younger brother of Zahide’s late husband. When her sister, too, is widowed while carrying a child and already raising three others, Zahide is compelled, against her will, to marry the surviving brother of her deceased husband. Bound by the constraints of their time, the two sisters come to share not only the same household but also the same destiny. Their lives unfold as a profound testimony to the harshest realities imposed upon women, where personal desire yields to societal pressure, and survival necessitates the surrender of choice. This narrative portrays the endurance of two sisters navigating an oppressive system, their shared sorrow echoing the struggles of countless women silenced by history.

Kaan has difficulty getting a higher position in his work where he has built a good career. While he was occupied with his wife, children and his work, he has pretty much neglected his father. Until one day he is obliged to take care of him.

In Turkey, the son of a rich manager is kidnapped. This boy finds a friend in one of the kidnapper when the adventures evolve.

Mute blond bombshell Zeynep lives with her aging father at a farm. One day, five criminals break in, killing the father and raping Zeynep. The shock restores Zeynep's speech and she seeks revenge. With the help of the friendly hobo Murat, she learns to be an expert shooter, takes a brown belt in karate, and sets out to kill them all.

Two brothers look for ways to prove their outlandish hypothetical speculations right to their cheeseparing father, in order to receive a great deal of allowance from him.

A story about a poor and guilt guy who is being used by mafia for dirty work.

Ateş from Cihangir and Yavuz from Tophaneli are two very close friends. Ateş dreams of becoming an actor, while Yavuz is a taxi driver who wants to avenge his brother's death from drugs. Ateş, who stands up against all the injustices he encounters and often gets into trouble because of it, sees his life completely change when he meets Aleyna, who has fled to Istanbul to escape being forced into marriage with someone her family doesn't approve of.

The story of the war, which is the beginning of the history of Turks in Anatolia.

Based on a true story set in 1948, customs officer Mehti is faced with the duty of formally setting up the border between Turkey and Syria, dividing his hometown. He is unaware of the pain that will eminently unfold, as families, languages, cultures and lovers are both ripped apart and clash head on in a village once united.

Pervin lives with her daughter Gül. The mother and daughter deceive the shopkeepers they owe money to, claiming that they inherited their wealth from their grandfathers, and live on credit.

Ferit is a basketball player from Istanbul. One day, at a camp he attends, he meets Emine, a village teacher. They fall in love at first sight and get married, but the spell is broken when Ferit's friends from the city arrive.

During a turbulent period in the ‘80s, love blossoms between a young man and a woman residing at a mental health rehabilitation center in Turkey.

Newly divorced Nilgün, a doctor from Istanbul, is sent to a remote small town to practice; where she meets up with long lost friend Havva while treating local prostitutes.

The film focuses on the experiences of five different couples over the course of a single day. When the main character declares that she wants to fall in love, fate takes notice and sets in motion a chain of events that will bring her love. It becomes clear that every action is a turning point in someone else's life, and that every misfortune can actually lead to something good.

Living isolated from the world in her dorm room, a young woman in her twenties has lost sight of her own boundaries within a monotonous and mechanical life. One day, during a panic attack, she falls into the depths of her own mind. This descent into the unknown transforms into a story of rebirth.

The life story of a family who migrated from a small town in Anatolia to Istanbul. Ömer from the family runs a gas cylinder dealership in the big city. Meanwhile, he gets involved in dirty business with a friend. Having severed ties with his family, Ömer cannot extricate himself from these shady dealings, even if he wanted to. He continues to live his life amidst Istanbul's vibrant and shadowy nightlife.

Bilo is a goodhearted man who wants to marry the cutest girl in the village but needs money to take the consent from her father. His best friend Mahmut offers him a way to go to Germany and work in a factory to save up the money he needs.

A murder witness and his sister must try to escape from two assassins who want to bring them to silence before they can testify in court.

A gangster moves to a small village, where he takes a woman in pawn and rapes her. Then the story begins…

Aylin, who lives with her mother in Istanbul, is continuing her university education. In the harsh conditions of life, they exist with a new "deceptive" business model that suits the desires of today's city dwellers.

The film tells the story of a young man whose life is turned upside down after committing a murder. Kemal is a successful architect. He discovers that his girlfriend has been cheating on him with Ökkeş, the owner of a casino. Kemal is brutally beaten by Ökkeş's men, but he takes his revenge by killing Ökkeş. Although the young man is acquitted in court, his conscience is not at ease. He takes in Ökkeş's young daughter, who is left behind. However, the crime he committed in the past will not leave Kemal alone.

On the border of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Greek village of Limya lies the frontier hamlet of Akıncılar, where the call to prayer mingles with church bells and Turkish music blends with Greek melodies, and people from Diyarbakır and Cyprus live side by side. In this village there are three children, each thirteen years old, bound together by fate and traveling a shared path. Their story unfolds amid a ritual that becomes ever more tangled: the drama of “child brides.”

Emir is a handsome, rich, successful man in his thirties. He was born into a family of workers and dedicated to study. He works day and night by putting everything in his life into the background. One of Turkey's most important investment bank has been working as an investment adviser at. He has been a complete predator in terms of working hard. Because there was no opportunity to learn to establish relationships with people, there was a big gap in Emir. One night, Emir's life changes when he meets Zeynep, the worst street singer in the world, and they both begin to help each other without knowing it.

It is a comedy of stubborn people who initiate a judicial process which would last 7 years because some sheep ate a few cabbages.

Türkan Saylan, fighting cancer with all her might, continues to help everyone she knows and doesn't know with every last ounce of energy she has. As her illness progresses, her eldest son Çınar, who lives in Germany and is also a doctor, comes to Istanbul with Saylan's grandson Timur. However, when he arrives at his mother's house in the morning, he finds a group of police officers at the door and a crowd of journalists surrounding the house. A search is being conducted at Saylan's house as part of an ongoing investigation ordered by the prosecutor's office. Timur is upset by his mother's indifferent attitude, and he is also annoyed by his brother Çağlayan's attempts to soften the atmosphere. Though both sons try to get through the day without causing their sick mother further exhaustion or harm, Türkan Saylan continues to worry about everyone else affected by the situation and reaches out to help from her sickbed...

Reunion of two former lovers brings the end to the society they are part of through hate through revenge and through bloodshed, especially when the lovers were obliged to stand against their associates and families.

A Turkish folk singer goes on a tour and falls in love with one of his young fan in İzmir. He later finds out that her sister also has a crush on him.

Tahsin is a respected police officer who lives a happy life with his wife and daughter Gamze. Despite earning little money and struggling to make ends meet, this does not hinder his happiness or his love for his job. He will retire soon. His assistant Aydın, who is as successful a police officer as he is, has a romantic relationship with Gamze. One day, the experienced commissioner finds himself pursuing drug dealers on orders from his superiors. Tahir, the leader of the drug gang Tahsin had previously arrested, devises a revenge plan with his associate Naci. Naci makes Gamze fall in love with him. He takes her to a house under the pretext of introducing her to his mother. The woman he introduces as his mother, Nalan, is actually Tahir's associate. They give Gamze drugs.

A group of hapless friends stumble into a plot involving mobsters, bounty hunters, beauty queens, and stolen jewels.

Onların da aşkı masallar gibiydi ve evlendiler. Yani masallara göre sona geldiler… Adem'le Didem birbirlerini hala sevmektedirler. Ama evlilik, Adem'in sevgisini ve ilgisini açığa çıkartma reflekslerini köreltmiştir. Didem ise özgüveni ve özgür iradesi elinden alınmış mutsuz bir kadına dönüşmüştür. Tek tutunduğu onu yeniden hayata döndürecek işidir. Adem'i hala çok seviyordur. Kocasının peşinden ailesini, dostlarını, kariyerini bırakarak daha önce sadece haritalarda gördüğü şehirlere bile yerleşmekte tereddüt etmeyen Didem, şimdi aynı fedakarlığı Adem'den bekler. İşte tam bu sırada başka bir masalın prensi hikayemize girer. Artık uyanma vakti gelmiştir…

The film, dedicated to all living Romanis, tells the story of what happened after a murder committed in a Romani neighborhood.

Picking up from the explosive cliffhanger of the sixth episode of the miniseries, the film follows the harrowing coup attempt night of July 15th, and the Police Special Operations and Special Forces heroes who put everything on the line to prevent a cultist takeover of Turkey.

Suffering through a mid-life crisis, Omer has to face the angry villagers in order to realize his estranged father's dying wish to be buried under the enshrined Noah Tree which his father claims to have planted half a century ago.

Onur, who has been deaf since birth, works as a librarian. His father had left him and his mother when he was seven, and Onur has always blamed himself for this. Although being able to speak, he has chosen to stay silent because of the pitying looks of the people around him. At his friend Vedat's engagement party, he meets Zeynep, who later finds out about Onur's hearing disability, but is not bothered by it. She is forced by her overbearing father to leave home and gets a job at a call-center. Having to speak on the phone all day to people she doesn't know, Zeynep finds peace with Onur, who she communicates with perfectly without speaking...

A young and successful entrepreneur has difficulty in coming to terms with his religious upbringing. One day he is pushed into substitute for his ailing friend as the Imam of a small village.

‘Theatre is my life,’ Yıldız Kenter admits in her biography written by Dikmen Gürün. This is the story of a star, who has dedicated her whole life to her theatre company, students, the stage. Recounting the prizes received as well as the prices paid for pursuing your passion, Sweetie is a testimony to the transforming cultural landscape of the country as it tells Kenter Theatre’s story and thus how a private theatre has managed to survive. Including interviews by family members, students, fellow actors, as well as rare archival images and footage, Sweetie is an homage to the ‘North Star of Turkish theatre.’ The documentary was written by Zeynep Miraç, scored by Murat Evgin, and features Dikmen Gürün as advisor.

Zuhtu, a nosy hawker who sells meatballs, one night finds a young girl escaping from her cruel relatives. He intends to help the girl but this costs him too much.

The film tells the love story between an escaped convict and the daughter of a famous businessman. Zeynep is the daughter of a well-known businessman. She is returning from vacation with her fiancé Tarık. A prison transport vehicle carrying prisoners is involved in an accident on the road. A group of prisoners who survive the accident escape. They stop the car of the young couple they encounter on the road. They kill Tarık and kidnap Zeynep. One of the prisoners, Mehmet, takes the young woman under his protection from his friends. Thus begins their relationship, which eventually turns into love.

Kadir, a retired gangster finds a troubled young woman on the road and takes her home for help. Soon they fall in love, but her past endangers their future.

Nesrin and Hatun are two Kurdish cleaning women living in Istanbul. While Nesrin tries to survive with her little daughter, trying to understand why her husband left her, Hatun dreams of buying a house in the district where they clean.

Turgut who is poor and hardworking student of technical university falls in love with rich - spoiled Filiz. Filiz does not carry the same feelings at the beginnings. She gets married with rich businessman and her first child name is Turgut.

Watchmen of the Dawn is about the lives of pilots in the Turkish air force based in the mid-Anatolian town Eskisehir. Göksel is a young pilot with Faruk as his best friend and Aydan, a female lieutenant in the air base, as his platonic love interest. After his plane crashes, Göksel takes a 15-day leave of absence and visits his parents in Istanbul.

Four university students summon an ancient spirit from a different dimension with a liturgical notebook they found. They will soon realize that their own lives are in grave danger.

Özcan and Sercan, two brothers, go to collect a debt owed to them by their uncle Müslüm in order to pay off their loan shark debts. Just as their uncle reaches into his pocket to give them the money, he suffers a heart attack and dies. The money belongs to them, but he has not yet taken it out of his pocket. The brothers, who take the money from their uncle's pocket and head to pay off their loan shark debt, are in for a big surprise, as the money is counterfeit. Seeing the only way to get rid of the counterfeit money is to leave it where they found it, the brothers come to the funeral home to place the money in their deceased uncle's jacket pocket and find themselves embroiled in an irreversible adventure.

After the delay of an official imam sent to a little village, the villagers try to find an imam to lead them during pray. After discussions, they decide to make "Bizum Hoca" (Our hodja) the imam of village, a villager loved and respected by everyone, though he is not an official one. Hodja, a different man from stereotype imams, also wants to change some bad habits villagers have. Meanwhile, the construction of one of the hydroelectric power plants (HPP) causing intense discussions in the region, next to a river flowing through the village, becomes a hot issue on the village's agenda. The villagers are against this construction and the fight begins. "Bizum Hoca" finds himself leading the villagers who started the protests.

Mahmut and Osman travel from village to village, using the excuse of setting up a base station in the village to deceive the daughters of wealthy families with promises of marriage, then steal their gold and disappear. This time, however, their plans do not go as intended. Mahmut has heard that Sonay, the beautiful girl of the village, has a father who is very wealthy, and he has set his sights on her accordingly. However, thanks to Osman's carelessness, Sonay figures out what Mahmut is up to and plays a trick on him. She sends Mahmut running around after the gold, and eventually has him arrested.

The film tells the story of a life-and-death struggle between two brothers who grew up apart. Kemal, whose parents separated years ago, grew up with his mother. He is a tough young man. For years, he is plagued by trouble and spends a long time in prison. When he is released, his son, whom he has never seen, has grown up. But the child is sick. The mafia, seeking to eliminate Commissioner Murat, who has disrupted the established order of the criminal underworld, approaches Kemal. However, he is determined to leave his troubled past behind. That is, until he needs a substantial amount of money for his son's heart surgery.

Mavi Sürgün is a fictionalized account of one period of the life of a Turkish journalist who was condemned to exile for an article he wrote in 1925. He turned his punishment into a reward by creating a little paradise in what is today the holiday resort, Bodrum. In fact he is considered by some to be the first ecologist. The film concentrates on this latter aspect of his character and through flashbacks portrays the inner turmoil of a man who is trying to come to terms with his past. The slow pace is somewhat of a drawback, the flashbacks are often confusing and the protagonist is not always very convincing. But the photography of the country side is exceptional Kenan Ormanlar and the short appearance by a very theatrical Hanna Schygulla of Fassbinder fame adds a little spice to the drama.

Ayça and Hama Ali are together in spirit, but divided by geography. With the outbreak of the Iraq War leaving him stranded, she embarks on an odyssey from Turkey to be reunited with him.

The artist, whose father died in the war, begins to paint the sadness he experiences under the influence of drugs. However, because he was under the influence of drugs, he completed painting in his mind which started physically.