About Dry Grasses
March 15 - 21, 2024
A teacher working in a remote Turkish village hopes to transfer to Istanbul when he's accused of an inappropriate relationship with one of his pupils in this searing, slow-burn drama from Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Starring Deniz Celiloğlu, Musab Ekici, and Merve Dizdar, who won Best Actress at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Nestled away in wintry East Anatolia, public-school art teacher Samet (Deniz Celiloğlu) yearns to leave the sleepy village for cosmopolitan Istanbul. Further disenchanted when he and Kenan (Musab Ekici), a colleague, come under public scrutiny, Samet fears circumstances will keep him in Anatolia and his dreams of a new life permanently out of reach. A silver lining is a budding relationship with Nuray (Merve Dizdar), a fellow teacher and firebrand who develops connections with both Samet and Kenan, forcing Samet to confront what he can't readily accept. Renowned for his nuanced, visually ravishing imagery, award-winning director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Winter Sleep) capstones the film with one of his greatest sequences, a dazzling metacinematic climax featuring an entrancing performance from Dizdar, who took home Best Actress at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
- Original Language Title: Kuru Otlar Ustune
- Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Principal Cast: Deniz Celiloglu, Merve Dizdar
- Country: Turkey, France, Germany
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 197 min.
- Producer: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Screenplay: Akin Aksu, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Cinematographers: Cevahir Sahin, Kürsat Üresin
- Editors: Oguz Atabas, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Music: Philip Timofeyev
- Awards: Cannes Film Festival 2023 (Best Performance by an Actress), Official Academy Awards Submission 2024 (International Feature)
- Language: Turkish
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- US Distributor: Janus / Sideshow
- International Sales: Playtime