Arabesque

Arabesk, the final film of director Ertem Eğilmez, stars Şener Şen and Müjde Ar, with Uğur Yücel also in the cast. Battling cancer during filming, Eğilmez fell into a coma but continued directing from his hospital bed with his son Ferdi Eğilmez serving as set assistant; he died shortly after the film's release, on September 21, 1989. The film is a genre parody satirizing 1980s arabesque music culture and the Yeşilçam melodrama tradition, considered the first of its kind in Turkish cinema, and stirred controversy for its critique of the era's self-styled intellectuals. Who it's for: anyone curious about a director's final film, directed from his hospital bed while battling cancer, a genre parody satirizing arabesque culture. Who it's not for: viewers looking for a classic, earnest Yeşilçam melodrama, since the film deliberately parodies that tradition.