SUMMER LOVE (O da Beni Seviyor)
In this coming-of-age story set in 1973, thirteen-year-old Esma is packed off to the country for the summer. Although the trip is meant as a punishment for doing poorly in school, Esma is overjoyed to find a soulmate in Saliha - the black sheep of the family who rebelled against an arranged marriage - and a potential boyfriend in a handsome 18-year-old local. But as the first stirrings of teenage love give way to the painful moment when one learns to distinguish between youthful dreams and bittersweet reality, some hard life lessons await Esma. The beautifully shot film, full of sumptuous landscapes and local Alevi culture, delivers a complex appraisal of village life and explores themes related to the massive urban migration of the 1970s.