Mommo: Kız Kardeşim

Atalay Tasdiken's 2009 film is set in a village in central Anatolia. After their mother's death their father remarries, and the two siblings are unwanted by their stepmother. It is decided that the younger sister will be given away, and her brother tries to prevent it. The film does not explain the children's world in adult language. The siblings talk among themselves, make plans and hide; the adults are mostly out of frame and the decisions are taken without consulting them. That perspective produces the film's entire effect. The performers are not professionals and the naturalness shows in the scenes. The cinematography does not aestheticise the rural landscape; earth, winter and poverty stand as they are. It drew attention at festivals in Turkey. Who it's for: those who like rural drama told from a child's point of view in Turkish cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a hopeful close; the film presents the separation as inevitable and does not soften it.