Tuzdan Kaide

Tuzdan Kaide / The Pillar of Salt
70min | 2018 | Turkey | 1.77 | DCP 2K | Color | Turkish with English sub.
Written and Directed by Burak Çevik

_{World Premiere: Berlinale Forum 2018}
_{Regional Premiere: Istanbul Film Festival 2018}

A pregnant young woman who lives in a sort of cave is looking for her vanished sister, yet this plot summary hardly does justice to the charm, richness and radical nature of Burak Çevik’s first feature – all of which a result of the liberties he takes in creating an extravagant cinematic world to tell this story. The protagonist leaves her almost fairytale-like cave to set out across a river, taking up her sister’s trail. This trail leads her to a botanical garden, a bird shop, and a darkroom. The photo lab technician compares the effect of photographs to God turning Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt because she couldn’t resist the temptation of turning around to see Sodom be destroyed. Captured for eternity, transfixed for eternity – should we take it at face value when the protagonist tells the boatwoman that she is a part-time vampire?

The dreamlike way in which the film digresses to show us a plant, a strip of negatives, or a table tennis match contributes considerably to the strange fascination it develops. Some things remain mysterious – which only makes us even more curious about what they might be referring to. (Anna Hoffmann)

Press Kit

_{Stills from the film
© Kuyu Film}