L'Immortelle

L'Immortelle is a 1963 French-Italian-Turkish co-production drama and the first feature film directed by novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet, who had previously written the screenplay for Last Year at Marienbad. Shot in black and white, the film was entered into the 13th Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear, and won the Prix Louis Delluc. Long kept from public view, it was later screened at the Istanbul Film Festival.

Set in 1960s Istanbul, the story follows a withdrawn man who falls hopelessly in love with an attractive, mysterious woman who refuses to reveal her identity. While the two protagonists speak French to each other, the characters around them mostly speak unsubtitled Turkish. Through a non-linear structure intercut with memories and fantasies, neither the characters nor the viewer can be certain of what is real. Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Françoise Brion star, alongside Guido Celano, Ulvi Uraz and Ayfer Feray.