20TH edition NOVEMBER 24 TO DECEMBER 2, 2023
20th edition
November 24 to December 2, 2023
Nuri Bilge Ceylan was born in Istanbul in 1959. His first short film, Koza (1995), was screened at the Festival de Cannes, a first for Turkish cinema. He went on to direct Kasaba (1997), Clouds of May (1999), and Uzak (2003), which won the Grand Prix and Best Actor Awards for its two leads at Cannes. His next films all won awards at Cannes: Climates (2006) took the FIPRESCI Prize; Three Monkeys (2008) won the Best Director Award; and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) received the Grand Prix. In 2014, Winter Sleep won the Palme d’Or and the FIPRESCI Prize. Ceylan returned to the Official Competition at Cannes with The Wild Pear Tree (2018) and About Dried Grasses (2023), which won the Best Actress Award.
Samet, a young art teacher, is finishing his fourth year of compulsory military service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hope of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in. Will his encounter with Nuray, another teacher, help him overcome his angst?
Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade, Nadir Öperli, Kristina Börjeson, Anthony Muir, Sébastien Beffa
Screenwriter Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cinematographer Cevahir Şahin, Kürşat Üresin
Production Designer Meral Aktan
Editor Akin Aksu, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Sound Clément Laforce
Music Giuseppe Verdi
Colour Colour
Production Company Memento Production, NBC Film, Komplizen Film
International Sales Company Playtime
Distributor Teleview International