Burning Days

Intense film noir set in the Turkish countryside from the Un Certain Regard program at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Corruption, nepotism, and unhealthy conservative forces are the key words for life in the small fictional town of Yaniklar. The young prosecutor Emre (Selahattin Paşali) arrives after his predecessor has mysteriously disappeared. The mayor has full control over the town's only source of drinking water, the groundwater. Emre is initially well received by the town's strong man and his mighty friends, but when he begins to question an increasing number of sinkholes in the area, the tone becomes completely different. When he also develops a close relationship with the local left-wing journalist, Murat, it is as if the small town is gradually transformed into a pressure cooker out of control.

In both style and theme, Burning Days is reminiscent of a Turkish combination of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People and Roman Polanski's Chinatown, interspersed with rural elements of horror, not unlike those seen in Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man. The rising chilling feel, combined with Christos Karamanis' (Suntan) mood-creating photography and Stefan Will's (Phoenix) unnerving music make this eminent thriller a film experience that is experienced throughout the whole body.

Jon Sæter

Director

Emin Alper (b. 1974) is one of Turkey's most promising directors and screenwriters. He has directed four films, as well as the TV series Alef, which won two awards at the New York Film and Television Festival. Alper's film Frenzy was part of the program at the Film from the South festival in 2015. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival the same year.

This film is part of