DOT

DOT, 2008

Turkey | 35mm, Color, 85’ | Turkish

Cast:Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu, Serhat Kılıç, Settar Tanrıöğen

While Derviş Zaim’s previous film, Waiting for Paradise, is about traditional miniature painting, Dot focuses on the art of calligraphy. It tells the story of a man tormented by a crime he once committed and seeks to redeem himself. Urged by a close friend, Ahmet finds himself involved in the theft of a Quran of great historical value. However, this deed will drag him into an unwanted situation.

Dot’s story is told uninterruptedly (circularly) on a flat, white, very large area (like a blank, white sheet of paper) and centers around the idea of “being a dot placed at the end of a beautiful piece of calligraphy written in a single uninterrupted stroke following Allah’s path, as someone who has done remorseful penance upon the earth.” As such Dot stands out as one of the most significant directorial works in Turkish cinema.-Ali Ulvi Uyanık