Sultan

Sultan is a young widow with four children who supports them by cleaning houses, living in a shantytown on a hill above Istanbul. When word spreads that a road will be cut through, her father-in-law, who is the neighbourhood headman, works out that the land will appreciate and starts buying the shacks cheap and forcing people out. Directed by Kartal Tibet and written by Yavuz Turgul, the film welds Yesilcam melodrama to the question of urbanisation, so the subject is property rather than love. Turkan Soray leads opposite Bulut Aras, with Sener Sen and Adile Nasit building the neighbourhood around them. It was shot in Sariyer, with music by Cahit Berkay. Who it is for: viewers who want to read Turkey's urbanisation through its popular cinema. Who it is not for: anyone after restrained melodrama, since the emotion here is used openly.