Introduced by Elif Ergezen
A dissident teacher is banished to a small, remote village in eastern Turkey. In the isolation of the high, rugged mountains, he is confronted with poverty, illiteracy, and patriarchal structures. But little by little, he settles into the village community and breathes new life into the village school. A film about a man who creates opportunities for change in the challenging conditions of exile. A collaborative work by artists who opposed the regime, it was banned in Turkey for years for its realistic testimony to the poverty-stricken life of the Kurdish people, even though it won the Silver Bear and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1983 Berlin International Film Festival. (FR)
Elif Ergezen is general coordinator of Sinematek/Sinema Evi Istanbul.