SEABURNERS

KUMUN TADI

World Premiere at 64. Berlin Film Festival, Forum Section,

Asian Premiere at 15. Jeonju International Film Festival

Between Istanbul’s sordid neighbourhoods and a destitute border village, close to the city, Hamit, drives back and forth. He works for Ali, a charcoal dealer-cum-human trafficker, carrying charcoal one way and illegal immigrants the other way.

Young and meek Mehmet helps the two in their dealings and is usually torn between them during their power struggles. Hamit feels stuck in this desolate village. Once, he himself tried to escape, but failed to achieve the ‘dream life’, which intensifies his frustration. His only comfort is an older woman, Denise, a foreign botanist who works at the local research centre.

They meet secretly in a cottage by the sea. Denise suspects Hamit but doesn’t ask, and Hamit doesn’t tell much anyway. But the sea is unforgiving and pressure builds up as a new group of refugees arrive and are unable to leave the village. Their relationship sways. And then, on a stormy night, Hamit decides to change his destiny.