The Sin of Being a Woman

Feature documentary film "Leave The Door Open" is about how a love of Jazz led two young sons of a Turkish diplomat posted to Washington DC in the late 1930s and 1940s to smash through racial barriers and segregation.

Reyhan, raised in a religious family, arrives to spend her summer holidays at her grandmother Ummu's house in a conservative central Anatolian village, accompanied by her mother Hatice, and her 6 year old brother Mehmet. The 13 year old is gripped by a state of inner turmoil. She has just had her first period and dreads the consequences of being unable to perform the required religious rites. Reyhan's concerns mount after she finds out the water supply at her grandmother's village house is cut off. She is desperate to find a way to perform the required religious ablution rites, which she has always been told will protect her from attacks by djinns and facial disfiguration. She starts having nightmares. At the same time, Reyhan is also determined to help Şükran, her best friend in the village.

On the Wings of Hope depicts the 4 years of struggle for survival of 5 immigrants, one of them is a child, after the boat they were on sank while they were trying to cross to Greece from Turkey. In 2015, 5 Iraqi refugees who were escaping from ISIS attacks, were trying to reach Kos Island of Greece from Turkey’s coastal town Bodrum, even though their boat sank they managed to survive. Turkish journalist Zehra Yılmaz witnessed the disappointments, pain and hopes of these refugees for four years. Refugees who risk death for a new beginning, refugee boats sinking in the Aegean, lost lives and dreams.

Right Where I Left You tells the story of a woman’s long and difficult journey after her brother’s suicide. Nihan sets off with her brother, her brother-in-law and her brother’s coworker to their village where the funeral will take place. While trying to hide the fact that her brother’s death was not suicide from the village imam, Nihan also confronts her brother-in-law Salim. On this journey, Nihan must confront the contradictions between her own view of life and the norms imposed by religion and society.