Ghosts

Beyond Okyay’s formal skill, her screenplay has real storytelling momentum and gusto, and requires some concentration from the audience. Apt comparisons would be Amores Perros, for its puzzle-box structure, and La Haine, for its rebellious aura. The principal characters are two women coping in varying ways with civil strife in Istanbul. Dilem (Dilayda Güneş) is a young woman in and out of full-time work, with more serious ambitions of becoming a professional dancer. She exists in a milieu of young people at the forefront of protest movements against the Turkish government, but doesn’t seem as politically engaged as her peers. She crosses paths with Iffet (Nalan Kuruçim), whose work in waste removal involves her cleaning up the aftermath of scuffles between law enforcement and protesters.

David Katz / Cineuropa