TELEVISION SERIES

TELEVISION SERIES

LEYLA AND MECNUN, 2011
Turkey | HDD, Color, 75’ | Turkish
Cast: Ali Atay, Ezgi Asaroğlu, Serkan Keskin, Müge Boz

This extraordinary comedy series which Ünlü directed for TRT has had a steady following since the day it was first broadcast. Its 103 episodes stand out for their strange-yet-ordinary characters, subtle references, absurdist humor, and superb performances. Two babies born on the same day have to share a bed due to lack of space in the hospital; their fathers pledge to have the two infants marry each other, naming them “Leyla” and “Mecnun.” The series begins 25 years later, on the day Mecnun’s family goes to ask for Leyla’s hand in marriage. Its distinctive narrative technique often shifts backward and forward in time, enacts an event onscreen as it is being narrated, and takes us into parallel universes.

ŞUBAT, 2013
Turkey | HDD, Color, 110’ | Turkish

Director:Volkan Kocatürk
Cast: Alican Yücesoy, Melisa Sözen, Özkan Uğur, Tansu Biçer

The plot of this series – filmed under the general direction of Ünlü – was inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Şubat (“February”) is a man who sought refuge in the underground tunnels beneath Istanbul after a fire broke out in the orphanage where he lived as a child. Yağmur is a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, trying to stand on her own two feet by working as a newscaster. Şubat falls in love with the young woman – whom he calls “The News” – after seeing her on television and starts to follow her every move. The two learn of many things which have occurred in their lives to bring them together.

FIVE BROTHERS, 2015
Turkey | HDD, Color, 115’ | Turkish
Cast: Serkan Keskin, Tansu Biçer, Nadir Sarıbacak, Melisa Sözen

This is the story of five brothers living in their historic family mansion in an old Istanbul neighborhood. After their parents die in an earthquake, the eldest of the brothers, the fisherman Sait, acts like a father to his siblings, looking out for them and protecting them. The sensitive journalist Nazım, the neighborhood imam Turgut, the bodyguard and would-be singer Orhan, the flighty horse-racing enthusiast Aziz – all of them, despite being grown men, still act like Sait’s children.One day, Sait announces his plans to get married; his brothers’ lives are turned upside down on hearing that he will fly the nest. But Sait’s dreams of marriage and children are complicated by the appearance of a former flame from his youth...