South East European Film Festival

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For those of you lucky enough to catch “Once Upon A Time
in Anatolia” at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles this week, this was a
beautiful film – beautifully shot, well acted – that left you pondering the
film long after it was over. It unspooled gently, letting you seep into the
high, windy, seer landscape and the lives thrown together by an investigation:
the prosecutor, the doctor, the chief of police, and many others, being led
about the countryside by a handcuffed thief who cannot (or will not) remember a
crime scene. Over the course of the search, the men’s beliefs, antipathies,
prejudices and compassions bubble to the surface amid small talk while they
work within a rigid stratification of society that slowly becomes evident.
Filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan portrays each character clearly but affectionately,
and leaves the viewer contemplating how easily truth gets shaded by people with
the best intentions—and whether that is ultimately for the best.

“Anatolia” won Cannes’ Grand Prix award (a shared award
with the Dardenne brothers’ “The Kid With A Bike,” which I regret I did not
see) and is Turkey’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign Film this year. If you
have a chance to see it, do! – Deirdre