2021 / crime, drama, mystery / 1hr 49 min /
written by Emre Kayis / directed by Emre Kayis /
country: Turkey, Germany, Denmark, Poland / language: in Turkish with English subtitles /
“Fikret (Uğur Polat) is a melancholic divorcé who leads a lonely life. Dedicated to his work of 22 years, he is the director of Turkey’s oldest zoo in the historical yet somnolent capital of Ankara. Like much of the country, the institution is undergoing a process of privatization, but one obstacle stands in the way: its oldest inhabitant, the Anatolian leopard, an endangered species indigenous to the region and protected by law. Though boiling on the inside, Fikret keeps his brewing discontent at the sweeping conservative reforms bottled. On New Year’s Eve, tipsy and bored, he finds himself paying a visit to the leopard, though he soon realizes his old friend is bereft of life. Determined to hide the inconvenient truth, Fikret and his assistant Gamze (Ipek Türktan) conspire to fake the leopard’s escape, setting in motion an absurd charade that inevitably turns the ensuing capture attempt into a three-ring circus while rousing Fikret’s long-buried idealism.”
LUMIERE CINEMA 