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)
- Director
- Yeşim Ustaoğlu
- Countries of production
- Turkey, France, Germany, Belgium
- Year
- 2008
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2009
- Length
- 112'
- Medium
- 35mm
- Original title
- Pandora'nin kutusu
- Language
- Turkish
- Producers
- Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Muhammet Çakiral, Serkan Çakarer, Behrooz Hashemian, Setareh Farsi, Natacha Devillers, Catherine Burniaux, Michael Weber, Tobias Pausinger
- Production Companies
- Ustaoglu Film Production, Silkroad Production, Les Petites Lumières, Stromboli Pictures, The Match Factory GmbH
- Sales
- The Match Factory GmbH
- Screenplay
- Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Sema Kaygusuz
- Cinematography
- Jacques Besse
- Editor
- Franck Nakache
- Production Design
- Serdar Yilmaz, H.F. Farsi, Elif Tasçioglu
- Sound Design
- Bernd Von Bassevitz, Philippe Bluard, Bruno Tarrière
- Music
- Jean-Pierre Mas
- Cast
- Tsilla Chelton, Derya Alabora
- Local Distributor
- Hubert Bals Fund
- Website
- http://www.ustaoglufilm.com