Award-winning Turkish director Ceylan sued for alleged animal cruelty

ISTANBUL

The photo shows a scene from 'Winter Sleep' in which a wild horse is being captured.

A Turkish professor has filed a complaint against renowned Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan for animal cruelty during the shooting of his latest award-winning movie, İhlas news agency has reported.

“Winter Sleep,” which won the prestigious Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival last month, is a domestic drama telling the story of a family running a hotel in Central Anatolia. Catching wild horses is one of the themes of the movie, in accordance with the meaning of the historical region’s name, Cappadocia, or “the land of the beautiful horses” in Old Persian.

But Dr. Orhan Kural, who filed the complaint against Ceylan on June 30, claimed that one of the horses seen in the movie was “tortured” while being captured.

“They pull the horse out of a river. They ride it. They encourage hunting. They kill a rabbit. The animal is seen in the agony of death for several minutes,” Kural said.

The Turkish professor also said Ceylan and his producer called him “to explain the situation” on June 29. “It means that they are afraid,” Kural said.

Kural added that while he had congratulated Ceylan on his international success, he also filed a complaint against him in France.

The Law for the Protection of Animals in Turkey stipulates various fines for those who commit animal cruelty. A draft code that was submitted to the Turkish Parliament this month calls for jail time for those who abuse animals.