France's official entry for the Best Foreign Language category of the Academy Awards is a film that made a lot of noise at Cannes. Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s directorial debut, Mustang, won the Europa Cinemas award at the festival and earned rave reviews from some notable names, including one Darren Aronofsky. Fortunately for us, the film is gearing up for a stateside release courtesy of Cohen Media and in support of that a new trailer has been released.
Set in north Turkey, Mustang centers on five vibrant sisters who see their freedom and zest for life taken away by an oppressive society. Here's the synopsis:
It’s the beginning of the summer. In a village in the north of Turkey, Lale and her four sisters come home from school, innocently playing with boys. The supposed debauchery of their games causes a scandal with unintended consequences. The family home slowly turns into a prison, classes on housework and cooking replace school, and marriages begin to be arranged. The five sisters, driven by the same desire for freedom, fight back against the limits imposed on them.
Erguven co-wrote the screenplay with Alice Winocour (Augustine), and it kind of resembles The Virgin Suicides or Girlhood, both very good films about young women suppressed by outside forces. This looks great and I can't wait to check it out. Mustang opens on November 20th.
