When five Kurdish prisoners are granted one week's home leave, they find to their dismay that they face continued oppression outside of prison from their families, the culture, and the government.
Direction
Güney directed from prison via smuggled notes. The man had RANGE.
Acting
Tarık Akan's silent suffering—acting with just his jawline.
Cinematography
Bleached Turkish landscapes that look like grief feels.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Yılmaz Güney was serving a 19-year sentence when he directed this. He escaped to France in 1981 and finished editing there, winning Palme d'Or in 1982.
Banned in Turkey until 1999, the film was smuggled out as 'agricultural footage.' The Kurdish language itself was illegal in Turkish media until 1991.