Taksim Hold'em

Michael Onder's 2018 Turkish film takes place over a single Saturday night in Istanbul. Alper refuses to join the protests in the street and wants to hold his weekly poker night. The film stays almost entirely inside one flat. As the friends arrive, the table turns into political argument; the narrative reveals where each of them stands alongside the hands being played, and the noise outside seeps in. Kenan Ece and Damla Sönmez appear. The camera rarely leaves the table; performance and dialogue carry the film. Who it's for: viewers of single-location films and of work about Istanbul in that period. Who it's not for: viewers who want to see the events in the street; the film gives the outside only as sound.