Nusret’s adult children – daughters Nesrin, Güzin and son Mehmet – live separate lives in Istanbul and have all come to terms differently with the monotonous void in their urban existence. After hearing that their mother is not well, they trek to their hometown near the Black Sea. Finding Nusret unconscious yet physically fit, they take her back to Istanbul, the city that Ustaoglu regards as a ‘Pandora’s Box’. The burdensome situation reawakens old conflicts between the siblings. They quickly notice that Nusret is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Nesrin and Güzin first take care of their mother. But the task proves to be too difficult for the quarrelsome sisters: they not only can’t cope with their mother’s decline, they can’t deal with their own alienated lives. The headstrong Nusret abhors the concrete city with its insincere modern relationships and just wants to return home. But unexpectedly she forms a close bond with her rebellious pothead grandson Murat. The film is a profound study of loss, estrangement and familial tensions, but above all it is a critique of a contemporary society that has de-familiarized itself from its roots, its ‘Mother Nature’. Pandora’s Box won several prizes in 2008, including the San Sebastian Best Actress Award for protagonist Tsilla Chelton (1918). The film, like some previous ones, was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund. (EY)
Film details
Productielanden
Belgium, France, Germany, Turkey
Jaar
2008
Festivaleditie
IFFR 2009
Lengte
112'
Medium/Formaat
35mm
Taal
Turkish
Première status
None
Director
Yesim Ustaoglu
Producer
Yesim Ustaoglu, Muhammet Çakiral, Serkan Çakarer, Behrooz Hashemian, Setareh Farsi, Natacha Devillers, Catherine Burniaux, Michael Weber, Tobias Pausinger
Production design
Serdar Yilmaz, H.F. Farsi, Elif Tasçioglu
Screenplay
Yesim Ustaoglu, Sema Kaygusuz
Cinematography
Jacques Besse
Sound design
Bruno Tarriere, Bernd Von Bassevitz, Philippe Bluard
Production company
Ustaoglu Film Production, Silkroad Production, Les Petites Lumières, Stromboli Pictures, The Match Factory GmbH