Turkish Film 'Ivy' Set For Sundance Premiere

Turkish film “Sarmaşık” (Ivy), written and directed by Tolga Karaçelik, is vying for honors at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which started on Thursday.

The film, the only title from Turkey this year at Sundance, will have its world premiere on Monday evening at the Egyptian Theatre and will be shown five more times throughout the festival, which runs through Feb. 1 in Park City, Utah.

“Ivy,” the second feature film by Karaçelik, is among 12 films in the fest's World Cinema Dramatic Competition, aimed at unearthing fresh perspectives and inventive styles from emerging filmmaking talents around the world.

Starring Nadir Sarıbacak, known for his performance in director Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun's 2009 debut “Uzak İhtimal” (Wrong Rosary), “Ivy” follows the story of six men trapped aboard a cargo ship sailing to Egypt. When the ship's owner goes bankrupt, the crew learns there is a lien on the ship and that key crewmembers must stay on board. Tensions quickly arise between the authoritarian Cypriot captain, his devoutly religious second-in-command, an affable cook and a trio of newcomers to the ship.

With cinematography by the multiple award-winning Gökhan Tiryaki, best known for his work with Nuri Bilge Ceylan (“Winter Sleep,” “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” “Climates”), the film also stars Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Çermik, Osman Alkaş and Seyithan Özdemiroğlu.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)