Dark Night (Karanlık Gece) (translated)

Karanlık Gece (Dark Night) is a Turkish-German-French drama directed by Özcan Alper, who co-wrote the screenplay with Murat Uyurkulak. After its festival run, the film opened in Turkish cinemas in 2023 and won Best Film at the 59th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

The story unfolds in a mountain town in Eastern Anatolia, where İshak, a young man who makes music as a hobby, has grown up alongside five close friends. He is secretly in love with Sultan, a young woman from the town, yet cannot bring himself to confess his feelings. When Ali, a handsome young civil servant, is posted to the town, İshak is consumed by jealousy. Soon afterwards Ali vanishes, and rumors spread that he disappeared during a hunting trip. The town begins to wonder whether İshak and his friends had something to do with it. Forced to confront a lynching he took part in years earlier, İshak struggles with guilt and remorse while the close-knit community closes ranks. Berkay Ateş, Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu, Taner Birsel, Sibel Kekilli and Pınar Deniz star.