Kino immer anders
The story of five sisters and their individual and collective fight for self-determination unfolds in a rural Turkish community. A seaside encounter marks the beginning of drastic changes in their lives, transforming their home into a prison. First, their clothes are used to veil their freedom; then, bars on the windows lead to a ring on the finger, an arranged marriage sealing away their spirits. Yet, as their guardians tighten their reins, the sisters’ spirits grow only wilder, embarking on an unyielding pursuit to defy traditions that become suffocating when applied to such extremes.
In her feature film debut, director Deniz Gamze Ergüven weaves the strands of longing, heartbreak, and defiance into a tapestry of survival. Mustang can be seen as protest art, a means for the director to reconcile with a part of her motherland’s reality concerning sexual abuse, child marriages, and the declining state of women’s rights. The liminal space between freedom and captivity, the bond between the sisters as an ode to resilience, and the unflinching portrayal of systemic oppression expose viewers to a raw, heart-quenching truth that transcends geography and time.
Maide Cebi
Content notes: incest, abuse, self-harm
