Watchtower

A film about two people doing the same thing without knowing it: hiding. Nihat takes a job at a fire lookout tower in the forest. The work is simple: watch the horizon all day and report by radio. He does not have to talk to anyone, and that is what he wanted. Seher is a young woman working at a bus terminal. She is pregnant and telling nobody. She is trying to stay away from her family, somewhere nobody knows her. The two meet, and the film does not turn into a story of intimacy. Each carries their own secret, and the narrative sustains both at once without explanation. Reasons are given late and sparingly. The film's strength is in its spaces. The tower, the forest, the fog and the noise of the terminal are used in relation to the characters' states of mind. Olgun Şimşek plays Nihat and Nilay Erdönmez plays Seher. Pelin Esmer directed. It was shown at festivals and became one of the director's best-known works. A strong example for anyone who likes Turkish independent cinema and narratives built on silence. For a viewer expecting a fast story, the film moves slowly and withholds information on purpose.