You Know Him

Ercan Kesal's 2020 Turkish film follows one day in the life of Kemal Güner, a doctor seeking to be nominated as a mayoral candidate in Istanbul. He is preparing for the night the nomination will be announced, and through that day phone calls, debts, an ex-wife and neighbourhood obligations pile onto each other. The humour comes out of waiting. Kemal spends the whole day waiting for one piece of news, and the waiting humiliates him step by step; the distance between wanting to enter politics and being unable to manage his own life is the axis. Kesal directs, writes and takes the lead. As a physician and actor, his observation of provincial life and politics was present in his earlier writing too. The narrative runs within a single day at close to real time. Who it's for: those who like Turkish independent cinema and political satire. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a defined plot; the film consists of a day-long wait.