Mavi Boncuk |
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s upcoming film The Wild Pear Tree is seen as a strong contender for Competition. It is his eighth film after 2014 Palme d’Or winner Winter Sleep.
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Serhat Karaaslan’s Passed By Censor, about a prison officer who falls for the wife of an inmate, will also be ready in time.
Bac Films has boarded Turkish director Serhat Karaaslan’s feature debut, “Passed by Censor,” a politically minded film shot in Istanbul. Produced by Turkey’s +90 Film Production, Germany’s Departures Film and France’s Silex Films, “Passed by Censor” revolves around 30-year-old Zakir, a worker at an Istanbul prison whose job is to censor sensitive parts of letters that inmates receive and send. His routine takes an unexpected turn after he becomes infatuated with the wife of one of the inmates and decides to discover more about her life with the help of a young woman he meets while attending a creative writing class. The movie stars Berkay Ates (“Frenzy”), Ipek Türktan (“The Impeccables”) and Saadet Aksoy (“Eastern Plays”).
“Passed by Censor” was developed at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation residence, Berlinale Talents, the Jerusalem International Film Lab and the Locarno Filmmakers Academy. Bac Films will release “Passed by Censor” in France, on top of handling international sales. Bir Film will distribute the movie in Turkey, while Farbfilm Verleih will release it in Germany. The film is expected to be delivered in the spring. An up-and-coming Turkish helmer, Karaaslan previously directed the shorts “Musa,” which played at Locarno, and “Ice Cream,” which played at Toronto.
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Iraqi-Kurdish director Hiner Saleem’s Who Killed Lady Winsley?, revolving around an investigation into the death of a famous American novelist on the Turkish island of Büyükada by a famous detective, is also in post-production and could be a candidate.
WHO KILLED LADY WINSLEY? A film by Hiner Saleem 2018 France, Turkey, Belgium - Detective Comedy
SYNOPSIS When Lady Winsley, the famous American novelist, is discovered dead on the remote Turkish island of Büyükada, the great detective Fergün is sent from Istanbul to solve the murder case. With the help of Azra, the beautiful local hotel tenant, he must confront stubborn members of the island community to untangle well-guarded family secrets and discover who the murderer is.
CAST Mehmet Kurtulus Ezgi Mola Ergün Kuyucu Serhat Midyat
CREW Producers Marc Bordure, Robert Guédiguian (Agat Films & Cie)
Screenwriters Véronique Wüthrich, Hiner Saleem, Thomas Bidegain
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s upcoming film The Wild Pear Tree is seen as a strong contender for Competition. It is his eighth film after 2014 Palme d’Or winner Winter Sleep.
SEE MORE from Mavi Boncuk
Serhat Karaaslan’s Passed By Censor, about a prison officer who falls for the wife of an inmate, will also be ready in time.
Bac Films has boarded Turkish director Serhat Karaaslan’s feature debut, “Passed by Censor,” a politically minded film shot in Istanbul. Produced by Turkey’s +90 Film Production, Germany’s Departures Film and France’s Silex Films, “Passed by Censor” revolves around 30-year-old Zakir, a worker at an Istanbul prison whose job is to censor sensitive parts of letters that inmates receive and send. His routine takes an unexpected turn after he becomes infatuated with the wife of one of the inmates and decides to discover more about her life with the help of a young woman he meets while attending a creative writing class. The movie stars Berkay Ates (“Frenzy”), Ipek Türktan (“The Impeccables”) and Saadet Aksoy (“Eastern Plays”).
“Passed by Censor” was developed at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation residence, Berlinale Talents, the Jerusalem International Film Lab and the Locarno Filmmakers Academy. Bac Films will release “Passed by Censor” in France, on top of handling international sales. Bir Film will distribute the movie in Turkey, while Farbfilm Verleih will release it in Germany. The film is expected to be delivered in the spring. An up-and-coming Turkish helmer, Karaaslan previously directed the shorts “Musa,” which played at Locarno, and “Ice Cream,” which played at Toronto.
WHO KILLED LADY WINSLEY? A film by Hiner Saleem 2018 France, Turkey, Belgium - Detective Comedy
SYNOPSIS When Lady Winsley, the famous American novelist, is discovered dead on the remote Turkish island of Büyükada, the great detective Fergün is sent from Istanbul to solve the murder case. With the help of Azra, the beautiful local hotel tenant, he must confront stubborn members of the island community to untangle well-guarded family secrets and discover who the murderer is.
CAST Mehmet Kurtulus Ezgi Mola Ergün Kuyucu Serhat Midyat
CREW Producers Marc Bordure, Robert Guédiguian (Agat Films & Cie)
Screenwriters Véronique Wüthrich, Hiner Saleem, Thomas Bidegain
