Burning Days (Turkish: Kurak Günler) is a Turkish-French drama film, directed by Emin Alper and released in 2022.[1] The film centres on Emre (Selahattin Paşalı), a lawyer newly appointed as the state prosecutor in a small drought-ridden town plagued by sinkholes, who is drawn into political conflicts around local corruption, with his authority challenged both by being drugged at a party where a young woman named Peknez (Eylul Ersoz) was raped, as well as by allegations that he is having a sexual relationship with Murat (Ekin Koç), the editor of the local anti-establishment newspaper.[2]
| Burning Days | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Turkish | Kurak Günler |
| Directed by | Emin Alper |
| Written by | Emin Alper |
| Produced by | Nadir Öperli Kerem Çatay |
| Starring | Selahattin Paşalı Ekin Koç |
| Cinematography | Christos Karamanis |
| Edited by | Eytan Ipeker Özcan Vardar |
| Music by | Stefan Will |
Production companies | Ay Yapım Liman Film |
| Distributed by | The Match Factory |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Countries | Turkey France |
| Language | Turkish |
The cast also includes Erol Babaoglu, Erdem Senocak, Selin Yeninci, Sinan Demirer, Nizam Namidar, Ali Seçkiner Alıcı, Onur Gürçay, Mehmet Kervanci, Hatice Aslan, Gönenç Acaroglu, Salih Aydin, Tuncay Demiras, Mustafa Elma and Enver Husrevoglu.
Distribution
editThe film premiered in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival,[3] where it was a nominee for the Queer Palm.[4]
It had its Turkish premiere at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in October 2022.
Controversy
editIn December 2022, well after the film had already premiered both at Cannes and Antalya, the Turkish General Directorate of Cinema demanded repayment of the production funding it had granted to the film.[5] Although they did not officially state a reason for the demand, it was believed to relate to the controversy around the film's LGBTQ themes.[5]
Awards
editÖzcan Vardar and Eytan Ipeker won the European Film Award for Best Editor at the 35th European Film Awards.[6]
The film won nine awards at Antalya, including Best Director (Alper), Best Actor (Paşalı), Best Supporting Actor (Babaoğlu), Best Cinematography (Christos Karamanis), Best Music (Stefan Will), Best Editing (Vardar, İpeker), the Turkish Film Critics’ Association Award and the Cahide Sonku Award (Çiğdem Mater).[7]
References
edit- ^ Stephanie Bunbury, "Cannes Review: Emin Alper’s ‘Burning Days’". Deadline Hollywood, May 26, 2022.
- ^ Jessica Kiang, "‘Burning Days’ Review: A Sweltering, Stylish Small-Town Allegory for Corruption in Strongman Societies". Variety, June 29, 2022.
- ^ Jonathan Romney, "‘Burning Days’: Cannes Review". Screen Daily, May 26, 2022.
- ^ "Cannes 2022 | 17 longs et 12 courts en lice pour la Queer Palm". Écran Noir, May 15, 2022.
- ^ a b Ben Dalton, "Turkish government demands repayment of funding from Queer Palm-nominated ‘Burning Days’". Screen Daily, December 13, 2022.
- ^ Scott Roxborough, "‘Belfast,’ ’The Quiet Girl’ Among 2022 European Film Awards Craft Winners". The Hollywood Reporter, November 23, 2022.
- ^ Vassilis Economou, "Özcan Alper’s Black Night emerges victorious at the 59th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival". Cineuropa, October 10, 2022.
External links
edit- Burning Days at IMDb