Kaplanoğlu’s film to represent Turkey at Oscars

ISTANBUL

Director Semih Kaplanoğlu’s film “Bağlılık Hasan” (Commitment Hasan) will be Turkey’s Oscar entry for the 94th Academy Awards next year.

The selection committee, consisting of the Culture and Tourism Ministry General Directorate of Cinema and the representatives of professional organizations in the field of cinema, held a meeting on Oct. 30 to determine Turkey’s candidate in the “Best Foreign Language Film” category.

Evaluating the films that applied to the Artistic Events Commission, the committee decided that Kaplanoğlu’s film “Commitment Hasan” would represent Turkey as a candidate for the 94th Academy Awards under the category of the “Best Foreign Language Film Award.”

The Oscar ceremony is slated for March next year.

The film represented Turkey at the 74th Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section in June this year.

The film depicts Hasan, who makes his living from his father’s fruit garden, trying to get rid of the electricity pole that is intended to be planted in the middle of their garden and his journey to Mecca for pilgrimage purposes.

It was shot in the northwestern province of Çanakkale’s Bayramiç district in autumn 2019.

Umut Karadağ and Filiz Bozok shared the lead roles in the film, which is the second film of Kaplanoğlu’s “Commitment” trilogy, while Mahir Günşiray appeared as a guest actor.