Time to Love (Sevmek Zamanı)

Directed and written by Metin Erksan, the 1965 drama Sevmek Zamanı (Time to Love) is regarded as one of the most original works of Turkish cinema. The story begins with Halil, a poor painter working with his master in the grand villas of Istanbul's Princes' Islands, who becomes infatuated with the portrait of a woman hanging on the wall of one of the houses he is painting.

Halil keeps returning to the empty mansion just to gaze at the picture; one day Meral, the woman in the portrait, suddenly arrives and, learning that he has fallen in love with her image, is deeply moved. Yet what Halil is attached to is not Meral herself but only her likeness. Bringing the classical Ottoman theme of "falling in love with an image" to the screen, the film stars Müşfik Kenter as Halil and Sema Özcan as Meral. The 86-minute work gradually rose to cult status thanks to its inventive premise and psychological depth.