Mustang

1 Feb 2017

Director: Deniz Gamze Ergűven

Turkey, France

2015

97 min

It’s early summer in a village on the Black Sea coast in northern Turkey. Lale and her four sisters are walking home from school at the end of term, playing innocently with some boys at the local beach. Their very conservative guardians, however, view this behaviour as immoral and the family home, where the girls live under the care of their grandmother and repressive uncle, is transformed into a prison. Instruction in homemaking replaces school and marriages are hastily arranged. The five sisters, who share a common passion for freedom, find ways of getting around the heavy constraints imposed on them and excitement and tension abound despite their confinement. Full of energy and youthful exuberance, Mustang is an emotionally charged and thought-provoking directorial debut.

Nominated Foreign Language Film Oscar 2016