The general advice given to filmmakers, as to other kinds of creative artist, is to show, not tell. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, however, shows through the telling. About Dry Grasses is a film built largely out of conversations, but not every voice receives equal attention, and the different narratives they present cannot easily be reconciled, even over the course of three and a quarter hours.
Samet (Deniz Celiloglu) is a teacher working out his four year mandatory post-training placement in a remote Anatolian village before, he hopes, getting a transfer to the capital. Things go wrong for him when he is accused of inappropriate behaviour with two of his young female pupils. In the mess which follows, he struggles to rebuild his life, finding hope in a possible relationship with fellow teacher Nuray (Merve Dizdar) – but nothing here is quite what it seems, and Samet will ultimately be left wrestling with.
Samet (Deniz Celiloglu) is a teacher working out his four year mandatory post-training placement in a remote Anatolian village before, he hopes, getting a transfer to the capital. Things go wrong for him when he is accused of inappropriate behaviour with two of his young female pupils. In the mess which follows, he struggles to rebuild his life, finding hope in a possible relationship with fellow teacher Nuray (Merve Dizdar) – but nothing here is quite what it seems, and Samet will ultimately be left wrestling with.
- 1/8/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The shortlist of 15 films to vie for a Best International Feature Film Oscar nomination is set to be announced on December 21. In all, movies from 88 countries are eligible this year, and as we regularly see, they offer up a rich treasure trove.
Below, we take a closer look at the potential candidates for the early cut. They include prize winners from Sundance to Berlin, Cannes, Venice and myriad other festivals and awards bodies.
Deadline, through its various Contenders events as well as separate interviews, has spoken with filmmakers behind many of the entries while all of the titles on the main list below have been reviewed by Deadline’s critics as we continue to grow our focus on international films.
To note, we have not highlighted films which are also eligible in Animation and Documentary, though our picks for possible crossovers are at the end of the main list, as are our Special Mentions.
Below, we take a closer look at the potential candidates for the early cut. They include prize winners from Sundance to Berlin, Cannes, Venice and myriad other festivals and awards bodies.
Deadline, through its various Contenders events as well as separate interviews, has spoken with filmmakers behind many of the entries while all of the titles on the main list below have been reviewed by Deadline’s critics as we continue to grow our focus on international films.
To note, we have not highlighted films which are also eligible in Animation and Documentary, though our picks for possible crossovers are at the end of the main list, as are our Special Mentions.
- 12/17/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
‘About Dry Grasses’, a Turkish film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, will be screened as the Mid-fest Film at the 54th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) here on Friday.
The film, known for its storyline and performance by the actors, has garnered international acclaim, with its latest accolade being Merve Dizdar winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
‘About Dry Grasses’ has already made its mark at prestigious film festivals worldwide, including at Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival 2023, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2023, Busan International Film Festival 2023, and Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2023.
Its narrative has resonated with global audiences, making it a standout film in the cinematic landscape.
‘About Dry Grasses’ will be screened at Inox Screen-1 in Panaji at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The cast and crew of the film will be present during its screening.
The film revolves around a young teacher...
The film, known for its storyline and performance by the actors, has garnered international acclaim, with its latest accolade being Merve Dizdar winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
‘About Dry Grasses’ has already made its mark at prestigious film festivals worldwide, including at Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival 2023, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2023, Busan International Film Festival 2023, and Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2023.
Its narrative has resonated with global audiences, making it a standout film in the cinematic landscape.
‘About Dry Grasses’ will be screened at Inox Screen-1 in Panaji at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The cast and crew of the film will be present during its screening.
The film revolves around a young teacher...
- 11/23/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
‘About Dry Grasses’, a Turkish film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, will be screened as the Mid-fest Film at the 54th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) here on Friday.
The film, known for its storyline and performance by the actors, has garnered international acclaim, with its latest accolade being Merve Dizdar winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
‘About Dry Grasses’ has already made its mark at prestigious film festivals worldwide, including at Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival 2023, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2023, Busan International Film Festival 2023, and Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2023.
Its narrative has resonated with global audiences, making it a standout film in the cinematic landscape.
‘About Dry Grasses’ will be screened at Inox Screen-1 in Panaji at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The cast and crew of the film will be present during its screening.
The film revolves around a young teacher...
The film, known for its storyline and performance by the actors, has garnered international acclaim, with its latest accolade being Merve Dizdar winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
‘About Dry Grasses’ has already made its mark at prestigious film festivals worldwide, including at Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival 2023, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2023, Busan International Film Festival 2023, and Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2023.
Its narrative has resonated with global audiences, making it a standout film in the cinematic landscape.
‘About Dry Grasses’ will be screened at Inox Screen-1 in Panaji at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The cast and crew of the film will be present during its screening.
The film revolves around a young teacher...
- 11/23/2023
- by Agency News Desk
About Dry Grasses, the latest film from Nuri Bilge Ceylan that played in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, was submitted by Turkey on Friday to represent the country in the Oscar International Feature Oscar race.
It’s the sixth time Turkey has selected a Ceylan film to represent the country at the Academy Awards, though none have advanced to the final nomination stage. He won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2014 for Winter’s Sleep.
About Dry Grasses centers on a young art teacher who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in. An encounter with Nuray, herself a teacher, could be the key to overcoming his angst.
Merve Dizdar, who played Nuray, won...
It’s the sixth time Turkey has selected a Ceylan film to represent the country at the Academy Awards, though none have advanced to the final nomination stage. He won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2014 for Winter’s Sleep.
About Dry Grasses centers on a young art teacher who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in. An encounter with Nuray, herself a teacher, could be the key to overcoming his angst.
Merve Dizdar, who played Nuray, won...
- 9/8/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
North American premiere at TIFF on September 13.
Turkey has selected Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses as its submission for the Academy Awards.
‘About Dry Grasses’: Cannes Review
About Dry Grasses premiered in Cannes where Merve Dizdar won the best actress award and will receive its North American premiere at TIFF on September 13
and screen in the Main Slate at the New York Film Festival in October.
Deniz Celiloglu, Merve Dizdar, Musab Ekici and Eve Bagci star in the story about Samet, a young art teacher finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia.
Turkey has selected Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses as its submission for the Academy Awards.
‘About Dry Grasses’: Cannes Review
About Dry Grasses premiered in Cannes where Merve Dizdar won the best actress award and will receive its North American premiere at TIFF on September 13
and screen in the Main Slate at the New York Film Festival in October.
Deniz Celiloglu, Merve Dizdar, Musab Ekici and Eve Bagci star in the story about Samet, a young art teacher finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia.
- 9/8/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In his otherwise astute Cahiers du Cinéma review of About Dry Grasses, Josué Morel describes the main character of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest epic work, Samet (Deniz Celiloglu), as a frustrated, badly loved, and, at times, angry man, who’s “perhaps even a pedophile.” While it can be seductive, sometimes convenient, to reduce the ambivalence of a characterization to something so clear, the manner in which Morel pins Samet down constitutes a fundamental misunderstanding of Ceylan’s commitment to capturing, among other things, the dimensions of child-adult and pupil-teacher relations in all their complexity.
About Dry Grasses involves a complaint about transgressive behavior by Samet toward one of his female students, 14-year-old Sevim (Ece Bagci), with whom he’s nurtured a caring bond within an institution where any expression of affection would be fundamentally at odds with its pedagogy and ethos. The plot of Ceylan’s film isn’t...
About Dry Grasses involves a complaint about transgressive behavior by Samet toward one of his female students, 14-year-old Sevim (Ece Bagci), with whom he’s nurtured a caring bond within an institution where any expression of affection would be fundamentally at odds with its pedagogy and ethos. The plot of Ceylan’s film isn’t...
- 9/7/2023
- by Diego Semerene
- Slant Magazine
The U.S. rights for Cannes Film Festival award winner “About Dry Grasses” have been acquired by Sideshow and Janus Films.
“About Dry Grasses” follows Samet, a young art teacher who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in. But an encounter with another teacher named Nuray offers a chance to help him overcome his angst.
The film, which screened in Competition to rave reviews and won the Best Actress honor for Merve Dizdar’s performance, has a screenplay written by Akin Aksu, Ebru Ceylan and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. In addition to Dizdar, the film stars Deniz Celiloglu, Musab Ekici and Eve Bagci. NBC Film, Memento Production and Komplizen Film Production serve as producers.
Sideshow and Janus Films...
“About Dry Grasses” follows Samet, a young art teacher who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in. But an encounter with another teacher named Nuray offers a chance to help him overcome his angst.
The film, which screened in Competition to rave reviews and won the Best Actress honor for Merve Dizdar’s performance, has a screenplay written by Akin Aksu, Ebru Ceylan and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. In addition to Dizdar, the film stars Deniz Celiloglu, Musab Ekici and Eve Bagci. NBC Film, Memento Production and Komplizen Film Production serve as producers.
Sideshow and Janus Films...
- 5/31/2023
- by Lucas Manfredi
- The Wrap
Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up U.S. rights to Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Cannes Film Festival competition entry About Dry Grasses, securing the Turkish drama from sales group Playtime.
The film stars Deniz Celiloglu as a young art teacher, sent to a remote village in Anatolia for his final year of compulsory national service, who is overcome with angst and a sense of hopelessness about the future. An encounter with Nuray, another teacher, played by Merve Dizdar, offers the possibility of an escape. Dizdar won best actress honor in Cannes this year for her performance.
Sideshow and Janus Films plan to tour About Dry Grasses through the fall film festivals before releasing the movie in theaters stateside. The distributors took a similar approach with their joint 2021 Cannes acquisition, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, another slow-burning drama, eventually landing four Oscar nominations, and one win — for best international feature.
The film stars Deniz Celiloglu as a young art teacher, sent to a remote village in Anatolia for his final year of compulsory national service, who is overcome with angst and a sense of hopelessness about the future. An encounter with Nuray, another teacher, played by Merve Dizdar, offers the possibility of an escape. Dizdar won best actress honor in Cannes this year for her performance.
Sideshow and Janus Films plan to tour About Dry Grasses through the fall film festivals before releasing the movie in theaters stateside. The distributors took a similar approach with their joint 2021 Cannes acquisition, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, another slow-burning drama, eventually landing four Oscar nominations, and one win — for best international feature.
- 5/31/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Justine Triet’s French courtroom thriller Anatomy of a Fall has won the 2023 Palme d’Or for best film of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival.
Triet is just the third woman director to win Cannes’ top honor, but the second in three years, following Julia Ducournau, who took the Palme for Titane in 2021. Jane Campion was the first-ever female Palme d’Or winner in 1993 with The Piano.
German actress Sandra Hüller stars in the film as a German novelist who is put on trial for murder after her husband dies in suspicious circumstances.
In his review, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Jon Frosch called Anatomy of a Fall “a gripping and gratifyingly rich drama” and called lead actress Hüller “sensational.”
Jane Fonda presenting this year’s top honor, noted that when she first attended the Cannes festival, back in the 1970s, “There were no women directors competing at that time,...
Triet is just the third woman director to win Cannes’ top honor, but the second in three years, following Julia Ducournau, who took the Palme for Titane in 2021. Jane Campion was the first-ever female Palme d’Or winner in 1993 with The Piano.
German actress Sandra Hüller stars in the film as a German novelist who is put on trial for murder after her husband dies in suspicious circumstances.
In his review, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Jon Frosch called Anatomy of a Fall “a gripping and gratifyingly rich drama” and called lead actress Hüller “sensational.”
Jane Fonda presenting this year’s top honor, noted that when she first attended the Cannes festival, back in the 1970s, “There were no women directors competing at that time,...
- 5/27/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes Review: About Dry Grasses is a Luminous Summation of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Soul-Stirring Cinema
The pastures in Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s luminous new film are only dry at the very end. Save for that brief summery coda, the landscape in About Dry Grasses remains a snowcapped immensity where prairies are ringed by belittling peaks, people stand out as calligraphic silhouettes, and snow falls so heavy as to blot out everything. It’s as if it fell “to make oblivion possible,” observes art teacher Samet (Deniz Celiloglu), and in a film populated with wanderers trying to start anew, those words echo like a prayer. Geographically and thematically close to the rest of Ceylan’s oeuvre, the film finds him working once again in a remote corner of Eastern Anatolia and revisiting leitmotifs in his preferred mode: long, talky symposiums that pit characters against each other in games of verbal fencing. But none of it feels like a retreading. If anything, About Dry Grasses is both...
- 5/27/2023
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
Returning to Cannes Film Festival with his first film in five years, Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses is surprisingly not the longest film in competition, thanks to Wang Bing getting a slot, but it is one of the most acclaimed. Clocking in at 3 hours and 17 minutes, the film follows the young art teacher Samet “who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in. Will his encounter with Nuray, herself a teacher, help him overcome his angst?” Following the film’s premiere and ahead of our review arriving shortly, the first teaser trailer has now arrived which thankfully does not need subtitles.
“What has driven me to form a narrative through the experiences of an...
“What has driven me to form a narrative through the experiences of an...
- 5/22/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
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