Bye Bye Turtle

Bye Bye Turtle lives or dies with the chemistry of its two leads.

Thrown together by happenstance, the five-year-old Inci (Nursema Cepni) and the young woman Zeynep (Meltem Unel) become unlikely travelling companions. The latter is heading back to her remote village after years of living in Europe and the former tags along to avoid returning to her own home, where the spectre of death looms large over the family. They are two daughters who have unenviable conversations to have with their fathers and who, despite their divergent ages, are having similar trouble in conducting them.

Oksuzoglu plays to the strengths of this odd-couple set-up, allowing Zeynep’s directness and Inci stoicism to butt against one another in amusing ways. Jaunty music and the characters trading comical barbs – with one another and passers-by – give Bye Bye Turtle the feel of whimsical road-movie comedy set in the expansive Turkish mountains. However, the relationship between the two leads is something more significant than that descriptor would suggest and the underlying drama of their lives gives even the lighter moments an emotional resonance.

Oksuzoglu’s spritely tale of two wayward daughters, led by two winning performances, is as much a story of loss. On one hand, it is self-inflicted – it is a sense of being unable to reconnect when so much water has passed under the bridge – and on the other, it is unavoidable and universal. Perhaps in Zeynep Inci sees an echo of the mother she knows isn’t waiting for her when she gets home, in Inci Zeynep sees a young girl who will one day be thankful for the father who will be waiting. That so much meaning shines through is a testament to Oksuzoglu’s story and the layered performances she elicits from her cast.

Director, screenplay: Selin Oksuzoglu
Cast: Nursema Cepni, Meltem Unel, Neriman Cilingiroglu, Ibrahim Colakoglu
Producers: Jeanne Ezvan, Marthe Lamy
Cinematography: Leo Roussel, Emmanuel Fraisse
Editing: Charles Claudon
Sound design: Ozkan Boz
Production companies: Sis Films (Turkey), Preludes (France)
Venue: Berlinale (Berlinale Shorts)
In Turkish
24 minutes