Short Films

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Turkish Classics Revisited

DESPERATE ROAD
AMANSIZ YOL

• Director: Ömer Kavur
• TÜRKİYE / 1985 / DCP / Colour / 90’ / Turkish; English s.t.

• Screenplay: Barış Pirhasan
• Original Work: Kerem Şahin
• Director of Photography: Orhan Oğuz
• Editing: Mevlüt Koçak
• Music: Uğur Dikmen
• Cast: Kadir İnanır, Zuhal Olcay, Yavuzer Çetinkaya, Mine Çayıroğlu, Mustafa Dik, Ümit Yesin, Ferda Ferdağ, Hasan Yıldız
• Producer: Atıf Yılmaz
• Production Co.: Delta Film
• World Sales: Fanatik Film

1986 İstanbul Best Turkish Film of the Year
1985 Antalya Best Actress (Z. Olcay)
1985 Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture Film Achievement Award

Desperate Road is a film that offers a distinct aesthetic and thematic depth, diverging from classic Yeşilçam cinema by focusing on themes of roads and searching. The screenplay, written by Ömer Kavur in collaboration with Barış Pirhasan and inspired by Kerem Şahin’s short story ‘Çıkmaz Yollar’ (Dead-End Roads), explores the breakdown of human connection and alienation. With its striking visual storytelling and multidimensional characters, the film stands out. Produced by Delta Film, the company of Turkish cinema’s masterful and prolific filmmaker Atıf Yılmaz, Desperate Road captivates audiences with powerful performances from Kadir İnanır, Zuhal Olcay, Yavuzer Çetinkaya, and child actress Mine Çayıroğlu.

The film begins with the paths of Hasan, a lorry driver returning from Germany, his former lover Sabahat, and his childhood friend Yavuz crossing once again. Sabahat is trapped in an unhappy marriage with Yavuz, who forces her into sex work to support the family. When Yavuz is involved in a heist, entrusting the loot with Hasan and fleeing, everything spirals out of control. In an attempt to save Sabahat and her young daughter Ayşe from the men pursuing them, Hasan embarks on a journey from western to eastern Turkey to get them to safety. However, as they travel, Sabahat’s reluctance to return to her family and her unresolved past with Hasan heighten the tensions between them.

Zuhal Olcay, who will receive the Istanbul Film Festival’s Honorary Cinema Award this year, said: ‘Ömer Kavur is a pioneering director in Turkish cinema, who has established his own narrative style, and aimed to engage the audience by delving into themes such as human relations, social issues, and existential crisis in his films. Directed by Ömer Kavur, whom I have always admired and had the chance to work with three times, Desperate Road is a road film in which the magical atmosphere he creates in his films is felt again.’

* In accordance with Article 7 of the Law No. 5224 amended on 18.01.2019, cinema films that have not been reviewed and classified can only be screened in festivals, special screenings and similar cultural and artistic events with an 18+ age restriction.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.