Turkish cinema, despite being held back by economic and political constraints, looks poised for a global breakthrough this year. Its milestone Berlin 2026 contingent \u2014 comprising three feature film premieres, two of which are competing for the Golden Bear \u2014 kicks off the campaign.<\/p>\n
For years, Turkey\u2019s government, headed by authoritarian President Recep Tayyip\u00a0Erdogan, has been muzzling filmmakers\u2019 voices through censorship laws and state funding constraints on projects that didn\u2019t seem to toe the political line. On top of that, the value of the Turkish lira has been plunging to record lows as inflation rises, which in turn impacts local production costs.<\/p>\n
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But Turkish directors, who often mount their productions outside the country, \u201cHave lots of energy; they never give up\u201d says former Antalya Film Festival artistic director Ba\u015fak Emre, who now heads the Istanbul Film Festival\u2019s revamped co-production platform Meetings on the\u00a0Bridge. <\/p>\n
Spearheading Turkey\u2019s Berlin contingent are the two competition titles, \u201cYellow Letters\u201d and \u201cSalvation\u201d (pictured above), both by name auteurs who were able to find financing in Europe and elsewhere. The directors certainly didn\u2019t shy away from politics in their films.<\/p>\n
Berlin-born \u0130lker \u00c7atak is at the Berlinale with \u201cYellow Letters,\u201d which, unlike his last film \u2014 the Oscar-nominated, Germany-set \u201cThe Teachers\u2019 Lounge\u201d \u2014 takes place entirely amid political repression in Turkey, even though it was shot in Germany. The film stars Turkish actors \u00d6zg\u00fc Namal (Derya) and Tansu Bi\u00e7er (Aziz) as an artist couple whose marriage implodes after they lose their jobs due to their political views, reflecting the country\u2019s reality.<\/p>\n
\u00c7atak is uncertain whether \u201cYellow Letters\u201d will ever be released in Turkey\u2019s cinemas. \u201cThat\u2019s a big question mark,\u201d he says. But the director also points out that if the culture ministry censors his film, \u201cthis will generate attention [for it] in its own right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emin Alper says he was \u201cblacklisted\u201d from getting government funding for \u201cSalvation\u201d after making his 2022 drama \u201cBurning Days,\u201d which reflected rising authoritarian populism and mounting homophobia \u2014 and not just in his country. His latest work, which is set, and shot, in a remote Turkish mountain village, revolves on a land dispute rooted in the conflict over rights for Turkey\u2019s Kurdish minority. It\u2019s a potential political hot potato, but Alper is hopeful that \u201cSalvation,\u201d which has Turkish distribution attached, will make it past censors. He notes that tensions between the government and rebel Kurdish group PKK have eased, and \u201cthe atmosphere on that front is a bit more relaxed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Also set in a Turkish village is sophomore director Banu S\u0131vac\u0131\u2019s more intimate 2026 Berlin Forum title \u201cHear the Yellow.\u201d In the drama, a young woman named Suna returns to her parental home in a rural area \u201criven with cracks caused by drought,\u201d that make it \u201cas fragile as the relationships between the local people,\u201d says the synopsis. S\u0131vac\u0131, who debuted with \u201cThe Pigeon\u201d in Berlinale Generation in 2018, was able to finance \u201cHear the Yellow\u201d entirely in Turkey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a new generation coming, and there\u2019s kind of a burst of production, despite the difficulties,\u201d says Alper.<\/p>\n
\u00c7atak agrees: \u201cThere is a tremendous amount of talent in Turkey and great stories coming out, which is often is the case in societies where there are lots of tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, there is a promising crop of finished films from prominent Turkish auteurs that will soon hit the festival circuit. Expect Ye\u015fim Ustao\u011flu\u2019s long-gestating seventh feature, \u201cLeft Over,\u201d\u00a0a road movie about a poetess who leaves her Istanbul home to go back to her family roots, to surface as well a new doc that she\u2019s made. Ustao\u011flu broke out with 1999\u2019s \u201cJourney to the Sun,\u201d which competed in Berlin.<\/p>\n
G\u00fcrcan Keltek, who in 2024 made a splash in Locarno with atmospheric horror film \u201cNew Dawn Fades,\u201d has completed \u201cHorde,\u201d which he shot during COVID lockdown. Ferit Karahan, who was at Berlin in 2021 with \u201cBrother\u2019s Keeper,\u201d has picture-locked his \u201cDjinn Wedding,\u201d which looks at family\u2019s fate over three generations.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Turkey\u2019s longtime Cannes darling Nuri Bilge Ceylan (\u201cWinter Sleep\u201d) will be back on set this year with a father-daughter drama (details are being kept under wraps). Kaan M\u00fcjdeci, who won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice in 2014 with \u201cSivas\u201d and subsequently made \u201cIguana Tokyo\u201d and the TV series \u201cHamlet,\u201d will be back with \u201cDreamgirl.\u201d The pic centers on a young Roma girl who escapes from a small town in Eastern Anatolia, where she is not welcome. And Berkun Oya, creator of hit Turkish shows \u201cEthos\u201d and \u201cCici,\u201d will shoot previously announced \u201cMerci Charlotte,\u201d starring Juliette Binoche as a French woman who adopts a Turkish boy.<\/p>\n
Best of Variety<\/p>\n
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