Top 250 Movies Like The Gift

A list of the best movies similar to The Gift. If you liked The Gift then you may also like: Yahşi Batı, The Virgin of Stamboul, Vizontele, Vurun Kahpeye, What Josiah Saw and many more great movies featured on this list.

TV show

A painter in Istanbul embarks on a personal journey as she unearths universal secrets about an Anatolian archaeological site and its link to her past.

Yahşi Batı

Aziz and Lemi must recover a diamond gifted by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to the U.S. President which has been stolen by bandits in the American wild west.

The Virgin of Stamboul

Achmet Bey, a Turkish chieftain, catches one of his many wives in adultery and murders her lover. Throwing aside the cuckolding wife, he abducts his harem an innocent girl. However, a brave American who loves her comes to her rescue.

Vizontele

The story takes place in a small town (called Hakkari) in Turkey at the beginning of the 70's. The time has come to bring technology into that small town. The first Television (or called Visiontele by the citizens) arrives and the chaos begins.

Vurun Kahpeye

"Religious Fighter" - In Romania, the idealistic Istanbul teacher, Aliye, communicate activities to a town in Anatolia supporting the idea of National Struggle in the region.

What Josiah Saw

A family with buried secrets reunite at a farmhouse after two decades to pay for their past sins.

White Fire

While working in a diamond mine located in the desert, Bo and Ingrid, two siblings who survived a massacre as children, make a surprising discovery.

Winter Sleep

Aydin, a retired actor, owns a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal and his sister Necla, who is coping with her recent divorce. During the winter, snow covers the ground and boredom brings the return of old memories, pushing Aydin to flee…

The Wizard of Gore

A TV talk-show hostess and her boyfriend investigate a shady magician whom has the ability to hypnotize and control the thoughts of people in order to stage gory on-stage illusions using his powers of mind bending.

The Wizard of Loneliness

After his mother dies and father goes to fight in World War II, a young boy moves in with his aunt and uncle who live in the countryside. Lonely and unhappy, he starts believing he has super powers. Then a "dead" man shows up.

Necromancer

Julie, a college student, is sexually assaulted by two fellow students. Desperate for revenge, she makes contact with a necromancer, who begins using her demonic powers to get rid of any guy Julie hates.

The Norliss Tapes

A newspaper publisher listens to the personal tapes of investigative reporter David Norliss, who has disappeared during an investigation. The tapes tell the story of that investigation, involving a recent widow whose late husband has been seen working in his private studio. As Norliss and the widow investigate, they unravel a plot involving Voodoo and the walking dead.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

In the rural area around the Anatolian town of Keskin, the local prosecutor, police commissar, and doctor lead a search for a victim of a murder to whom a suspect named Kenan and his mentally challenged brother confessed. However, the search is proving more difficult than expected as Kenan is fuzzy as to the body's exact location. As the group continues looking, its members can't help but chat among themselves about both trivia and their deepest concerns in an investigation that is proving more trying than any of them expected.

The Ottoman Lieutenant

Lillie, a determined American woman, ventures overseas to join Dr. Jude at a remote medical mission in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). However, Lillie soon finds herself at odds with Jude and the mission’s founder, Woodruff, when she falls for the titular military man, Ismail, just as the war is about to erupt.

Journey into Fear

An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by Nazi agents. Safe passage home by ship is arranged for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are also on board.

Aaahh Belinda

Serap is a successful theater actress. Although she rejects the traditional roles assigned to women in her personal life, she agrees to play the role of a traditional housewife in a shampoo commercial. However, she is unaware that this commercial will turn into her worst nightmare.

America America

A young Anatolian Greek, entrusted with his family's fortune, loses it en route to Istanbul and dreams of going to America.

Ararat

Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.

The Awakening

When a British archaeologist violates an Egyptian queen's tomb, her evil spirit enters his daughter.

Bluebeard

Young female models are being strangled. Will law enforcement be able to stop the crime wave before more women become victims?

The Bride

The struggles of a migrant Anatolian family to adapt to and survive in the very different conditions of urban Istanbul. A young woman moves with her husband and small child to her husband's family in Istanbul. Her son becomes ill and the doctor tells her that he will soon die if he doesn't get an operation. The family refuses to help her because they can't see anything wrong with the boy. What happens on a Eid morning becomes a breaking point for the family.

Head-On

With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul

Award-winning director Fatih Akin takes us on a journey through Istanbul, the city that bridges Europe and Asia, and challenges familiar notions of east and west. He looks at the vibrant musical scene which includes traditional Turkish music plus rock and hip-hop.

Curse of the Crimson Altar

When his brother disappears, Robert Manning pays a visit to the remote country house he was last heard from. While his host is outwardly welcoming - and his niece more demonstrably so - Manning detects a feeling of menace in the air with the legend of Lavinia Morley, Black Witch of Greymarsh, hanging over everything.

The Danish Girl

When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

The Last Ottoman: Knockout Ali

After the First World War, the Allies occupy Istanbul. The protagonist, Yandim Ali is a rogue, discharged from the navy, who doesn't believe that the country can be saved, until he meets Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), who plans to start a resistance in Anatolia against the occupying Allies, as well as the collaborators of an Ottoman government, that exists only on paper.

Addicted

A gallerist risks her family and flourishing career when she enters into an affair with a talented painter and slowly loses control of her life.

Direniş: Karatay

In the middle of the 13th century, following the death of "The Iron Sultan, Alaeddin Keykubat," Mongols attack Anatolian Seljuks to destroy the last power against "The Great Khan". Allegiance or independence turns into an issue of debate among the Seljuk statesmen. A secret resistance is possible. A new and stronger state is not a dream. Emir Celaleddin Karatay, Vizier of Seljuks is to sparkle a nationwide resistance. His way is not predictable.

The Dig

As WWII looms, a wealthy widow hires an amateur archaeologist to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain's past resonate in the face of its uncertain future‎.

Do Not Forget Me Istanbul

Several directors from countries of the region were invited to create stories taking place in and around the beautiful city of Istanbul, in the vein of “Paris, je t’aime” and “New York, I love you”. They come together to remind viewers that Istanbul’s history does not belong only to the people of Turkey.

Fear No Evil

Brilliant and aloof teenager Andrew is always the butt of his class mates' jokes — but little do they know that he is actually the demon Lucifer. As the evil wells up within him, he avenges himself in acts of demonic murder and destruction. But his foe, the archangel Gabriel, has assumed the form of 18-year-old student Julie.

Future Lasts Forever

Sumru, a young ethnomusicologist in search of her lost lover, leaves Istanbul for a three-month research project in Diyarbakır. While crossing paths with locals and tracing the pains of others through a music project based on Anatolian mournings, she comes to confront the remnants of her own agony.

About Dry Grasses

A young art teacher hopes to be transfered to Istanbul after completing his mandatory duty in a remote village school in Anatolia. After accusations of innapropriate contact with a student surface, his hopes of escape fade and he descends further into an existential crisis.

Topkapi

Arthur Simon Simpson is a small-time crook biding his time in Greece. One of his potential victims turns out to be a gentleman thief planning to steal the emerald-encrusted dagger of the Mehmed II from Istanbul's Topkapi Museum.

Tulip Fever

An artist falls for a married young woman while he's commissioned to paint her portrait. The two invest in the risky tulip market in hopes to build a future together.

Steam: The Turkish Bath

Francesco and Marta run a husband-and-wife design company in Rome. When Francesco's aunt dies in Instanbul he travels there to sort out the hamam turkish steam bath that she left him. He finds a love and warmth in his realtives' Instanbul home that is missing from his life in Italy.

Istanbul Beneath My Wings

During the sea battle which took place between the Ottoman Empire and the Italians, a ship which had been seized in the Mediterranean Sea is brought to Istanbul, and a young wounded lady named Francesca, the daughter of the killed Captain, becomes a slave for Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi.

Three Monkeys

A family battles against the odds to stay together when small lies grow into an extravagant cover-up. In order to avoid hardship and responsibilities that would otherwise be impossible to endure, the family chooses to ignore the truth, not to see, hear or talk about it. But does playing “Three Monkeys” invalidate the truth of its existence?

Time to Love

A poor painter falls in love with a photograph of a woman while at work in one of the massive villas on Istanbul's Princes' Islands.

Semum

Director Hasan Karacadag argues that he tried to create a model of a Turkish-Islamic horror film and that he would make the world recognize this model, of which he sees "Semum" as the first example. "Semum" stars Ayça inci, Burak Hakki and Cem Kurtoglu in the lead roles and recounts the true story of a woman who lives in Izmir. "Semum" will be compared with "The Exorcist" and inci will be compared with Linda Blair, the director says, noting that the Turkish horror films made so far have been far from satisfactory.

The Conquest of Constantinople

The Turkish Sultan decides to send his armies in war against the remnant of the Roman Empire, Byzantine. All of his advisory council assent to the move with the exception of one aged councilor, who allies himself with the Byzantines, who kidnap the fiancée of the Turkis army leader. The Sultan orders the army leader, along with two others, to proceed to Byzantine for espionage purposes. There, they contact a couple sympathetic to the Turkish cause and, with their home as the base, gather information about the city's defenses. The Byzantines capture the couple and two of the Turks, leaving only the army leader to escape with the vital information. The Turks use it to make an easy conquest, ending the Roman empire, and creating the Ottoman empire.

Bye Bye Braverman

One day, Morroe Rieff learns that his friend and fellow writer, Leslie Braverman, has died. After meeting Leslie's widow, Inez, who is more flirtatious than grieving, Morroe joins up with three other writer friends, Barnet, Felix, and Holly to attend funeral services. However, the quartet faces numerous obstacles that could keep them from paying their respects.

The Dragon Painter

A wild man and genius becomes a master painter's disciple, but loses his divine gift when he finds love.

The Magician

Failed magician Iskender decides to do a tour to save his career, but has to bring his grumpy and senile father along. The tour is quite unexpectedly interrupted when a bride actually disappears from the stage.

Clouds of May

This is a movie within a movie, about a director, Muzaffer, who goes back to his hometown to make a film using a cast of local people (based on the director Ceylan's first feature, Kasaba). While Muzaffer is around, his mother complains about simple health problems, his father is in a legal fight against the government for his land, his cousin leaves his job to help Muzaffer who promises to find him work in Istanbul, and his little cousin Ali tries to carry an egg in his pocket for forty days so that he'll get the watch of his dreams. In the meantime, they form the cast for Muzaffer's movie as well.

Salkım Hanım'ın Taneleri

During the period of the Wealth Tax, where many non-Muslims in Turkey were forced to pay higher taxes, often in an arbitrary and unrealistic way. Nimet and Durmuş migrate from Niğde to Istanbul and take shelter with Durmuş's friend Bekir, who finds Durmuş a job at the inn. However, making a living by serving as a porter is not in line with Durmuş's ambitions. He wants everything Halit Bey has, the inn owner. Halit Bey begins to dispose of his property in order to pay the tax stipulated to his beloved wife Nora, who was treated in a nursing home. Wealth Tax has begun to affect everyone's destiny.

Witchtrap

A group of parapsychologists, as well as a skeptical cop, are terrorized by a Satanic ghost in a bed-and-breakfast.

Luscious

When a passionate young model convinces her boyfriend, a painter, to take to the canvas to renew their sexual chemistry, their erotic, uninhibited masterpieces command the attention of the art world. Smothered in paint, the couple slip and slide into a new realm of their relationship.

Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh comes back to life after being the recipient of a magic potion. He finds that his work has become quite valuable, and begins stealing his works. At the same time, he has a hard time getting anyone to believe he's really Van Gogh.

The Lumière Brothers' First Films

A collection of short films made by the Lumiere brothers, a team of pioneering filmmakers in turn-of-the-century France, narrated by Bertrand Tavernier.

Dragon Knight

Many years after the war has been lost, and all the dragons slain, a lone knight travels the lands of Agonos seeking to raise an army against the demon lord Abaddon. When a healer's vision reveals that one dragon still lives, and together with an eager young squire, the knight sets off in search of the fabled creature. As the armies of Abaddon descend on the human kingdoms, the dragon is their last hope of fending off the horde, before it lays waste to the lands of men. But does the creature even exist? And if it does, will it fight for them once more?

Red Istanbul

Orhan who lived in London for years and did not come back to Turkey agrees to help Deniz -a famous director- edit his first book. Deniz has been living in a mansion with his family which started to lose its old brightness and power. Orhan finds himself in the middle of Deniz's complicated relationships, mysterious friends and stange family members. This is the first movie of Ferzan Ozpetek which is shot in Turkey after a long time. It is also based on his own book which has the same name with the movie.

You've Got Murder

Istanbul Police Department homicide detectives encounter a murder nothing like they’ve seen before.Commissioners Emin, Salih, Asuman and deputy Alaattin begin investigating.But strange murders keep happening. They don’t have any evidence or any clues. Day by day, tempers flare and the police chiefs grow annoyed.As the murders keep piling up, the public’s interest rises. The pressure on Emin and his colleagues get intense. At last, the chief of police assigns “crime expert” Dizdar Koşu, who has recently come back from the US, to the team.Overwhelmed with panic, pressure and disdain, Emin and his friends try to solve the strangest series of murders with the most unusual methods.This fast race against time immediately turns into a tragicomedy.

Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For

A crossword puzzle editor finds her life completely disrupted when several of the clues in her recent puzzles are linked to unsolved crimes, and she is pulled into the police investigation.

The Visitor

Ten years after being thrown out of her parental home, Nur hears that her mother is at death's door. Taking her young daughter with her, Nur hurries back to her father's world to see, and reconcile with her mother before it is too late. While the universal theme of mother-daughter relationships lies at the centre of the film, this is underpinned by an allusive subtext of incest, one of most common but least addressed social problems in Turkey. The individual stories of the family members combine with a sense of hope fuelled by tragedy to paint a portrait of the socially disconnected.

Trick of the Eye

A woman artist is hired by a wealthy woman to paint a mural in a room however she finds out that the woman wants her to do more than paint the mural as hidden family secrets are revealed.

The Promise

Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, a love triangle develops between Mikael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated artist Ana, and Chris, a renowned American journalist based in Paris.

Journey from Greece

Djam, a young Greek woman, is sent to Istanbul by her uncle Kakourgos, a former sailor with a passion for Rebetiko, to find a rare part that will repair their boat. In Istanbul, she encounters Avril, a nineteen-year-old French girl, alone and without any money, who came to Turkey as a voluntary worker with refugees. Djam, generous, cheeky, unpredictable, and free-spirited, takes Avril under her wing on the way to Mytilene. A journey filled with encounters, music, sharing, and hope.

Saroyanland

Saroyanland is a docu-drama focusing on the journey of famous writer William Saroyan to the birthplace of his Armenian family Bitlis, in Turkey in 1964. While retaking the same road, the film aims to understand Saroyan's unique attitude to belonging, witnessing the self-discovery of a man who followed the traces of his Armenian ancestors.

Vendors' Meeting

How much chaos can three white goods dealers who come to İstanbul from Anatolia get into in three days? The paths of Namık, Adem and Sadık, three men going through difficult periods in their lives, intersect at a dealer meeting. After a series of unexpected events, they find themselves caught in a crazy plan. To survive, the three dealers have no choice but trust each other and move fast.

Black Site

A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.

Mortal World

Mermer family, who has been managing a restaurant called “Anatolian flavors” in Haydarpasa train station for generations, consist of 8 members. Even though this family leads a quiet simple life, they will end up finding themselves in complicated situations. Moreover, this family has been keeping a secret for a long time and it just can’t come out at any cost..

Antidote

Istanbul cirminal underworld; a place of merciless families and swaggering hitmen afraid of no one. Kadir Korkut, nicknamed the "Demon" is the most fearsome of their kind. When he wants to retire for the love of a blind German pianist, it starts a chain of events which will paint the night red. His boss and foster father, Kara Cemal betrays and coerces Kadir by poisoning him to perform two final hits on the two largest rival families in order to receive the antidote. Outgunned, outmanned and facing impossible odds he has to team up with an outed undercover police mole Cem, and somehow survive his final night of revenge and redemption.

Karamurat: The Sultan's Warrior

Sultan Khan of Ottoman Empire has fallen in love with Princess Iren of Byzantium. When he asks her father Niktol for her hand he refuses and tries to kill Khan. The Sultan's armies then attack and overtake Constantinople (now renamed Istanbul). Niktol kills Princess Iren and flees with his army to the island of Lesbos. From Lesbos, Niktol launches a series of ruthless attacks on Turkish villages resulting in the death of one of the Sultan's guard's mother. The guard, Murat, is sent by the Sultan on a mission to avenge his mother's death and bring back the head of the man who killed Iren. Murat goes undercover in Lesbos posing as Royal Guard Kostas, seeking the killers.

Labyrinth

A massive explosion rips though a busy street in Istanbul, Turkey. 95 people are dead; 30 Americans and 5 British. The massacre sends shock waves from Turkey to London and Washington, DC. A new terrorist organization is behind the attack. The explosion is just the beginning. Labyrinth' is the code name of the operation conducted by Turkish intelligence to stop a second, more devastating attack that will plunge Turkey, the only democratic Muslim country in the region, into chaos and destroy the fragile balance of the Middle East. After the initial attack, Turkey becomes a battlefront for terrorists and Turkish, British and American intelligence officers. Everyone has his own agenda in the fight that stretches from Istanbul to Eastern Turkey and from Frankfurt to Northern Iraq.

Son Mektup

Pilot Captain Salih Ekrem is a young air officer and one of the first Ottoman pilots.

Anatolian Eagles

Onur, Ayşe, Mustafa, Tunç ve Fatih. Onlar, gökyüzüne hakim birer pilot olma hayaliyle yaşayan genç havacılar. Hayalleri yükseklerde fakat hedefe giderken yaşadıkları bin türlü zorluk, aile, sevgili hasreti, dostlukları, havada olmak için yaptıkları fedakarlıklar ve birbirleriyle rekabetleri ne kadar çetin bir yola çıktıklarının da göstergesi olacak. Binbaşı Kemal Tanaçan'ın deneyimi ve desteği sayesinde eğitimden geçen beş genç için Uluslararası Anadolu Kartalı Tatbikatı, hayatlarını tamamen değiştirecek çok büyük bir deneyim olacaktır..

Istanbul Express

An art dealer on a special mission is pulled into dangerous intrigue while railway detective Cheval tries to help and pursues criminals on the Istanbul Express.

Firecrest

An adaptation of Reşat Nuri Güntekin’s 1922 novel, about the destiny of heartbroken young Turkish woman who becomes a teacher in Anatolia.

İngiliz Kemal Lawrens'e Karşı

Plans to take over the task of the British spy who came to Istanbul to Anatolia by Kemal’s story of said British: Lawrence.

Sayılı Kabadayılar

A whole gang of racketeers in Istanbul share their interests in the next amnesty proclamation, for Osman (Yilmaz Güney), lying in prison for murder, belongs to those who are expected to benefit from this amnesty law...

Komitas

The film is dedicated to the Armenian monk and genius composer Komitas, and the 2 million victims on his people in Turkey in 1915. The final 20 years of Komitas life were spent in various mental hospitals. The destiny of Komitas? This is the magic beauty of Armenian culture and the abhorrent brutality of Armenian history. A cultural and artistic world that was slaughtered with a curved knife. A humanity that doggedly advances towards an apocalyptic catastrophe, that does not recognize its own original purpose, eradicates its own memory, its final roots.

Butterflies

Three strangers with one thing in common — the same father — come to a Turkish village to bury him, and learn about him and each other.

Killing the Shadows

Killing The Shadows is a bawdy comic fable set in the Ottoman Empire during the mid-14th century based on two legendary figures in Turkish folkore, the jester Hacivat (Beyazit Ozturk) and the nomad Karagoz (Haluk Bilginer), men who apparently lived and died by their sense of humour.

My Brother 2

Two famous brothers, Hakan and Ozan's friends Tato died. Two days later, Hakan's wedding was held, but they went to a friend's house to fulfill their last duties. Hakan will marry Didem, the daughter of Muzaffer, one of Rize's leading tea merchants. Muzaffer is a reaction to this marriage because Hakan is a famous singer. They find themselves in the Black Sea from the Aegean to Central Anatolia, beyond the borders as if they are not enough, and at the end of the journey filled with surprises.

The Windmill

In the last years of the Ottoman Empire, a poor little Anatolian town named Saripinar is hit by a minor earthquake which has neither destroyed nor left it with many casualties. However, a telegraph sent to the central government exaggerates the situation and mentions that the governor of the town has been severely wounded, making the event a nationwide matter.

Anatolian Leopard

At Turkey’s oldest zoo, a lonely manager and a neglected female officer form an unlikely bond: as they hide the death of the zoo’s oldest inhabitant, an Anatolian leopard, in order to stop the privatization process and fake its escape, they set in motion an absurd charade that spins out of control. In Turkey’s grey and quiet capital, the ghost of the leopard persists.

The Red Headed Corpse

An alcoholic artist, who may in fact have been driven to murder, seeks inspiration from a mannequin.

King Tut's Final Secrets

As part of a high-tech forensic probe into the demise of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, scientists use X-rays and CT scans as they attempt to reach a conclusion about just how this famed king died. In addition, they explore the mysterious curse on explorers linked to Tut's tomb excavation.

Roza of Smyrna

An avid collector of Greek objects in Asia Minor, Dimitris, prepares an exhibition on multicultural life in Smyrna before World War I. In a trip to Izmir his girlfriend Rita, he finds in a small antique shop a Greek wedding dress that is stained with blood and an old photograph that send him on a journey to bridge the past with the present.

Ghosts

In Istanbul, on the verge of a country-wide power surge, four characters come across in a neighborhood undergoing the process of gentrification for the “New Turkey”: a mother whose son is in prison, a young female dancer, a feminist artist, and a cunning middle man. Their stories intertwine during a drug deal, offering a roaring tale of the contemporary generation.

Thou Gild'st the Even

In a small town in Anatolia, whose inhabitants possess various supernatural powers but still have to deal with ordinary problems, Cemal helps out in his father’s barbershop and, in his free time, acts as a football referee.

The Little Apocalypse

Having lost her mother in the 1999 earthquake, Bilge and her family go on a vacation to the south. On the way to their rented house, she sees a series of visions. Things get worse when a small earthquake occurs, bringing back memories of her loss and releasing her inner demons.

Zer

Zer is the story of a song, whispered to Jan's ear on his grandmother's deathbed. A survivor of Dersim Massacre, Zarife hid her identity, her past in her memory of this song. Raised in NYC, Jan begins a journey through Kurdistan, searching for his grandma's past and his own self.

Broken Ghost

On the face of it, they’re just another family moving to the wide open spaces of the Big Sky Country for a tree change. But for teenage Imogen Day and her parents Samantha and Will, the move to Montana is an escape from quite a unique kind of bullying. Desperate to make a new life for herself, Imogen must overcome new tormentors, old secrets, and a strange presence in the attic.

Dracula in Istanbul

Azmi is a lawyer from Istanbul. Drakula of Romania has assumed a new title. Azmi travels to Romania for legal matters. He is warned of Drakula but Azmi is a strong believer of goodness. This Turkish-made film sticks fairly close to the original plot of Bram Stoker's novel.

Dog

An ordinary day in the megacity of Istanbul: Ten-year-old Cemo sells paper tissues in the streets, Hayat is controlled by her husband and transsexual Ebru sells her body. All three have a secret love and they do everything that satisfies their longing, if only for a moment. An authentic, delicate and unsettling story about love and death and the Turkish society at the beginning of the 21st century.

The Mute

Living on his own under a modest roof, Sami makes a living as a mural painter. One day, he learns that his doting grandmother has passed away and left him a small chest full of calligraphy materials. At first, Sami rather dismisses the contents of the chest, so much so that he even considers getting rid of them. But then he meets Selma at the library where he has been commissioned to do a mural, and the introduction marks a turning point for him. Selma, an attractive and dignified woman with the impeccable manners of an old Istanbul family, once took up calligraphy herself. With her guidance and encouragement, Sami embarks on learning the practice of calligraphy. He is helped in his endeavours by Esref Efendi, a gifted but demanding old-generation calligrapher, whose distaste for the present state of calligraphy has deterred him from taking on students for some time. And the master is quick to steer Sami towards love.

Blue Bicycle

12-year-old Ali lives an austere life in the Anatolian countryside. He's saving up his hard-earned money for his big dream: a brand-new, blue bicycle. When Elfi, the girl he is secretly in love with, becomes the victim of a great injustice at school, Ali takes up the passionate fight for democracy and against a system stuck in its ways.

Tulliana

Two zoologists seeking the extinct Anatolian panther search for its traces in the deep forests of Anatolia. Veysel believes the almost mythical panther embodies something beyond an animal, an element that Anatolian people have lost and are still looking for. For Emre, only the idea of photographing the absent Anatolian panther excites him. They manage to capture an obscure image of the large cat, but they can’t prove it is the panther’s. The two friend are surprised and disturbed when they see stuffed panthers at the offices of some bureaucrats. A secret Veysel reveals to Emre in Hacıbektaş changes both of them. Will searching for something non-existent destroy them, too?

The Wedding

A family migrates to Istanbul from the rural parts of Anatolia, and they bring their traditions with them. The men of the family are giving away the girls of the family in return for a hefty bride-price. Zelha, one of the girls, revolts against this attitude and tries to save her sisters.

The Long Way Home

Inhospitable at the best of times, the snow-covered mountainscapes of Eastern Anatolia constituted a fatal frontier for many war exiles after the battle of Sarikamish in 1915, and provides a canvas laced with beauty and threat for this bone-chilling survival yarn, the superb debut feature of Alphan Eşeli. Starting out with three characters – a refugee mother and daughter and their grizzled guide – the film traces their daunting trek across this barren terrain to safety, with the Russians encroaching and other stragglers, including a pair of wounded, frostbitten Ottoman soldiers, all orbiting the same burnt-out village they find in their path. Puncturing its aura of ghostly impasse with some shocking narrative reversals, and constantly prickling with the mutual dread of strangers in gruelling extremes, the movie stakes out hugely credible ground next to established Eastern Front war classics (In the Fog, Come and See) while remaining thoroughly its own beast. (Source: LFF programme)

Come to My Voice

This is the story of two women on opposite ends of a lifetime, a very young, curious Jiyan and her life-weary but resistant grandmother Berfe, in order to save the person who links them to each other.

Vurun Kahpeye

"Religious Fighter" - In Romania, the idealistic Istanbul teacher, Aliye, communicate activities to a town in Anatolia supporting the idea of National Struggle in the region.

Meteors

Tension has long simmered between Turkish soldiers and Kurdish separatists in southeastern Anatolia and, in 2015, the conflict escalated into a military lockdown.  Given the lack of media coverage, locals began filming the empty streets in single-take, one-hour clips which were posted to the internet and then vanished.  Coinciding with this event is the falling of the Leonids, a spectacular meteor shower which emblazons the black skies with impermanent light. 

Last Call for Istanbul

A chance meeting at the airport leads two married people to an unforgettable night full of excitement, desire, and temptation in New York City.

Zaferin Rengi

The days when Istanbul was occupied as a result of the Armistice of Mudros after the First World War and the Fenerbahce football team won the "Harington Cup"

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