An unsparing character study of an everyday misanthrope, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s engrossing film continues in the intellectually stimulating, leisurely, dialogue rich vein of Winter Sleep and The Wild Pear Tree. Art teacher Semet (Deniz Celiloglu) is trudging through his mandatory four year assignment in a provincial school in the starkly beautiful Anatolian steppes where, as one character puts it, there are but two seasons, summer and winter, the latter being harsh in the extreme. Though he presents an amiable presence, Semat is disaffected, bored, and ornery; his disillusionment crystallises into anger when he and fellow teacher and roommate Kenan (Musab Ekici) are accused of behaving inappropriately towards several young female students. Further complicates ensue when both men fall for Nuray (Merve Dizdar), a teacher from a nearby school.

There will be Open Captioned screenings at 13.00 on Monday 29th, and 19.15 on Tuesday 20th.

Notes by David O’Mahony