Zenne Dancer

Co-directed by Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay, this 2011 film follows three lives intersecting in Istanbul: Daniel, a German photographer; Can, who dances as a zenne in a nightclub; and Ahmet, who comes from a conservative family in the east of the country. The relationship between them produces both closeness and conflict. The film was drawn from a real case, the killing of Ahmet Yildiz in Istanbul in 2008. His death brought the question of sexuality within the debate on honour killings to public attention in Turkey on this scale for the first time, and the film addresses it directly. The telling is didactic in places, with characters delivering lines that explain their positions. Even so, being among the first features in Turkish cinema to treat the subject this openly establishes its historical value. Who it's for: those interested in LGBT representation in Turkey and in recent social history on film. Who it's not for: viewers who do not want to approach domestic violence and honour killing; the film arrives there directly.