Köpek

Synopsis

A day in the metropolis that is Istanbul and a look at three destinies: Cemo sells paper tissues on the streets in order to support his family. Today, the 10-year-old will finally pluck up the courage to speak to the girl he has long had a crush on. Hayat’s unwelcome marriage has lacked any form of passion since day one. When the first love of her life suddenly makes contact, she agrees to meet him in secret. Ebru works as a prostitute to make ends meet. This beautiful transsexual can attract any man she wants, but the man of her dreams will not stand by her. On this day, Cemo, Hayat and Ebru are prepared to do everything it takes to quench their desires. With an attentive eye on the poetry of day-to-day life, Esen Isik’s debut feature film is a sensitive tale of love, violence and Turkish society at the beginning of the 21st century.

Biography

Esen Isik was born in 1969 in Istanbul, Turkey, and has dual Swiss and Turkish citizenship. She has lived in Switzerland since 1990 and has studied at the Zurich Art Academy’s film & video department from where she graduated in 1997. Her short film THE STOLEN FATHER received the Swiss Film Prize 2000 for Best Short Film, her short film YOU & ME the Swiss Film Prize «Quartz» 2012 for Best Short Film.

Filmography
2012 – YOU & ME, short
2001 - EINE GENERATION ZWISCHEN ZWEI WELTEN, short
2001 - REISE OHNE RÜCKKEHR, short
1999 - THE STOLEN FATHER, short
1997 - ÖLMEYE YATMAK – SICH ZUM STERBEN HINLEGEN, short
1996 - LINIE 83, short
1995 - WEGGEHEN, short
1994 - IN DEN KELLER, short
1993 - ASKIN, short