Dir: Pelin Esmer | Turkey, Drama 2025
In a sweltering summer in southwestern Turkey lives collide in this intriguing film about people trying to reinvent themselves after personal trauma.
The small town of Soke, southwestern Turkey, is home to an annual film festival where Leven, a well known feature film director, is staying as one of the main guests. Aliye, an avid film fan, works in the festival’s hotel, although the two have not yet met.
Aliye has high hopes of a career as a writer, but in the meantime she spends her days cleaning rooms and dreaming about the guests’ lives. Lèvent is also at a crossroads. Newly divorced, he now lives with his mother who is desperately encouraging him out of his lethargy to make a full feature instead of another short.
Crowded out by fans and the media wanting to interview him, and even star in his next film, Levent is withdrawn and sceptical until he crosses paths with Aliye who captures his imagination, the two sparking off each other as their stories entwine. Pelin Esmer’s clever screenplay deftly combines the strings of her narrative to show just how important collaboration and exchanging views is in the creative process.
Working across documentary and fiction, the Turkish filmmaker once again returns to IFFR, after her feature Watchtower (2012) competed for the Tiger Award in 2013, with this enjoyable and accomplished film about persevering and never giving up on your dreams. @MeredithTaylor
ROTTERDAM FILM FESTIVAL |