Hakki has a simple life, but a good one. He sells souvenirs and tours at the archaeological ruins at Bergama, in the Aegean; enjoys a loving marriage, takes pride in family, friends, and the home that has been passed down through generations. Another inheritance, poverty, scarcely warrants a second thought until a stroke of good fortune alters Hakki’s way of thinking. While cutting back the troublesome roots of a tree beside his house, he comes across buried treasure: an ancient figurine. This, he senses, will be a life-changing discovery.
And so it proves. Hikmet Özcan’s film is content to tell us a story—a fable, really—without pretension or gratuitous adornment. The early scenes have a pleasing lightness of touch that’s entirely in keeping with Hakki’s unaffected lifestyle. As the tale turns we’re drawn into the protagonist’s determination to stake his claim and prove his worthiness. The movie rests squarely on the psychologically acute performance of Bülent Emin Yarar in the title role. He’s in nearly every scene and commands our attention throughout.
Community Partner
Bülent Emin Yarar, Hülya Gülşen, Cem Zeynel Kılıç, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Duygu Gökhan, Durukan Çelikkaya
Turkey
2024
In Turkish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Zeynep Santiroglu Sutherland, Alex Sutherland
Producer
Oyku Canli, Hikmet Kerem Özcan
Screenwriter
Hikmet Kerem Özcan
Cinematography
Burak Baybars
Editor
Tatlıhan Tuncel, Hikmet Kerem Özcan
Original Music
Ahmet Kenan Bilgic
Hikmet Kerem Özcan
Hikmet Kerem Özcan is director born in Izmir, Turkey. He studied at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in their Cinema & Television department where he learned from important figures in Turkish Cinema. He has worked on commercials and documentaries while also directing his own short films, which have won various awards.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Love
This warm, thoughtful piece offers shrewd comic observations on modern dating as it trains a quizzical eye on the trysts of a female doctor, Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), and her colleague, a gay male nurse, Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen).
Sex
Two chimney sweeps living in heterosexual marriages find their views on sexuality and gender challenged by a series of unexpected events. In a set of sharply scripted conversations, both men confront heretofore unexplored aspects of their identity.
3 Faces
Iranian filmmaker Panahi and actress Behnaz Jafari, both playing themselves, receive a video in which a distraught teenaged girl, whose acting dreams have been quashed appears to kill herself. Panahi and Jafari decide to investigate...
Dreams
The third installment in the Sex/Dreams/Love trilogy is another rich, absorbing tale. 17-year-old Johanne writes a confessional about her flirtation with a (female) teacher. But the writing is too good to stay private...
Transit
Trust the director of Phoenix and Barbara to re-imagine a WWII romantic intrigue into something unsettlingly contemporary. With occupying forces closing in, a German refugee (Franz Rogowski) assumes a dead writer's identity and flees to Marseille.