Part of Passports: An International Film Series
Nestled away in wintry Turkish Kurdistan, public-school art teacher Samet (Deniz Celiloğlu) yearns to leave the sleepy village for cosmopolitan Istanbul. Further disenchanted when he and Kenan (Musab Ekici), a colleague, come under public scrutiny, Samet fears circumstances will keep him in Anatolia and his dreams of a new life permanently out of reach. A silver lining is a budding relationship with Nuray (Merve Dizdar), a fellow teacher and firebrand who develops connections with both Samet and Kenan, forcing Samet to confront what he can’t readily accept. Renowned for his nuanced, visually ravishing imagery, award-winning director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA, WINTER SLEEP) capstones the film with one of his greatest sequences, a dazzling metacinematic climax featuring an entrancing performance from Dizdar, who took home Best Actress at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
“It’s a gorgeous film, in Ceylan’s typical naturalistic style, and one that follows the novelistic impulse, complete with a self-absorbed antihero at its center.” —Alissa Wilkinson, Vox “This is Ceylan at his most limber and mischievous.” —Guy Lodge, Variety “To this Turkish critic, Nuri Bilge Ceylan is our Mike Leigh and Anton Chekhov in one, with multilayered characters of social and political complexities engaging through dialogue lines that feel both off-the-cuff and studiously planned in their lavish rhythms.” —Tomris Laffly, The Wrap “Part-Chekovian comedy of yearning and male ego, and part-tragedy of a country which stymies the growth of its own citizens. Despite everything, Samet is a man who is so comfortable in his complaints that he won’t improve his own situation.” —John Bleasdale, Cinevue
