Yellow Letters
A poignant and topical drama by Ilker Çatak (The Teachers’ Lounge) about a Turkish actress and director who lose their jobs and their home as a result of the Turkish government’s actions. Winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin.
Derya and Aziz, a celebrated artist couple from Ankara, lead a fulfilling life with their thirteen-year-old daughter Ezgi – until an incident at the premiere of their new play changes everything. Suddenly, they find themselves targeted by the state and lose their jobs and their home. They move to Istanbul to temporarily stay with Aziz’s mother. While Aziz tries to scrape together a living with odd jobs and holds on to his convictions, Derya searches for a way to become financially independent. An increasing distance grows between them and their daughter until they are forced to choose between their values and their shared future as a family.
Inspired by real events in Turkey, the film reveals how political arbitrariness can invade the most intimate spaces, shattering relationships and forcing people to renegotiate who they are. The ‘yellow letters’ of the title refer to unofficial lists, illegal under Turkish labour law, of employees marked by management as problematic: disloyal, undesirable, usually because of union or political activity. Those named on such lists are monitored, discriminated against, denied promotions and raises, or fired under convenient pretexts. (source: www.berlinale.de, adapted)