BIRDS OF FOREIGN LAND (GURBET KUŞLARI), 1964

Türkiye | DCP, Black & White, 103’ | Turkish
Director: Halit Refiğ
Cast: Tanju Gürsu, Cüneyt Arkın, Filiz Akın, Hüseyin Baradan, Sevda Ferdağ

Loosely adapted from Orhan Kemal’s novel of the same name, the film is one of the first major works in the cinema of Türkiye to center the rural-to-urban migration and the transformative impact of the metropolis on a family.

When his fortunes collapse in Maraş, Tahir Ağa moves to Istanbul with his wife and four children, but the city becomes a site of conflicting desires, clashes, and disintegration for each family member. Rather than framing migration merely as an economic displacement, Refiğ tells the story through class aspiration, the encounter with the city, and the erosion of family values. Remembered for its iconic scene in which the family gazes at the city from Haydarpaşa and vows to conquer it, the film marked an early turning point in Cüneyt Arkın’s career and won “Best Film” and “Best Director” at the 1st Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

Birds of Foreign Land was restored by the Istanbul Culture and Arts Foundation (İKSV) with the support of Groupama.

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