Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan has seen a number of his features shortlisted for Best International Feature Film, but none has yet to make the final five. This includes 2008’s Three Monkeys for which he won Best Director at Cannes and 2014’s Winter Sleep, which took the Palme d’Or.
Ceylan looks to reverse that trend with About Dry Grasses which debuted in the south of France over the weekend. Clocking in at a near Killers of the Flower Moon level 197 minutes, it tells the story of a teacher’s alleged abuse of a student. The cast is led by Deniz Celiloglu, Merve Dizdar, and Musab Ekici.
The Rotten Tomatoes score is a sturdy 86% and it’s a smart educated guess that Turkey will make Ceylan’s latest its submission in IFF. My suspicion is that, since it’s not quite reaching the acclaim of some of his earlier pics, he may once again find himself on the outside looking in. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…
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