Noah Land

İbrahim is terminally ill and asks one last thing of his son Ömer: to be taken to the village where he grew up and buried beneath the tree he says he planted fifty years ago. But in the village that tree is now considered holy. The villagers believe Noah planted it after the flood, and İbrahim's family was driven out over a land dispute forty-five years earlier. To carry out the request, Ömer has to prove his father's account is true and confront the village's belief at the same time. This is Cenk Ertürk's first feature. The film puts land ownership and faith in the same place: who is right cannot be settled by a document because there is no document, only two accounts. The telling is calm and distanced, and nobody is vindicated. Haluk Bilginer plays İbrahim and Ali Atay plays Ömer. The Turkish, German and American co-production won Best Actor for Ali Atay and Best Screenplay for Cenk Ertürk at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019. Who it's for: Viewers who like the festival vein of Turkish cinema, father and son drama, and rural narrative. Who it's not for: The pace is slow and the plot circles a single request. The resolution is also left uncertain.