Lütfi Akad

The Wedding, which is the second part of Akad’s trilogy, depicts the struggles of a migrant Anatolian family to adapt to and survive in the very different conditions of urban Istanbul, is one of the best presentations of internal migration in Turkish cinema. Akad uses the experiences of a provincial family as his medium for drawing attention to a period of disintegrating feudal relationships and burgeoning proletarianism. And this strikes the kind of political chord that is rarely encountered now in Turkish cinema; an approach that is borne out by the film’s ‘happy ending’. The Wedding is profoundly impressive as a film that explores and comments on the painful period of change sweeping Turkey at the time, but also for its standpoint, a combination of social realism and socialist reality.Read More »

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The Bride, which depicts the struggles of a migrant Anatolian family to adapt to and survive in the very different conditions of urban Istanbul, is one of the best presentations of internal migration in Turkish cinema. It is also the first, and most accomplished film in Ömer Lütfi Akad’s celebrated trilogy, which with The Wedding (Dügün, 1973) and Blood Money (Diyet) has earned a respected place in world cinema for its thematic unity. The Bride masterfully exposes the evolution of ‘little Anatolia’ in Istanbul, a phenomenon that would go on to acquire far larger dimensions.Read More »

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The film narrates the struggle of Tahir and Zühre, two lovers trying to reunite. Zühre is a princess while Tahir is the son of a vizier. Growing up together in the palace, the two are deeply in love with each other. However, Bekir, one of the heirs to the dynasty, opposes their marriage. Bekir spreads rumors about Tahir in order to prevent their marriage. So, Tahir falls out of favor with the Sultan due to the rumors about him. Tahir and Zühre will have to make sacrifices to be together. (Yiğitalp Ertem)Read More »

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Set along the Turkish-Syrian frontier, this terse, elemental tale of smugglers contending with a changing social landscape brought together two giants of Turkish cinema. Director Lütfi Ö. Akad had already made some of his country’s most notable films when he was approached by Yılmaz Güney—a rising action star who would become Turkey’s most important and controversial filmmaker—to collaborate on this neo-western about a quiet man who finds himself pitted against his fellow outlaws. Combining documentary authenticity with a tough, lean poetry, Law of the Border transformed the nation’s cinema forever—even though it was virtually impossible to see for many years.Read More »