World Cinema Series: The Films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan Clouds Of May / Mayis Sikintisi

PUBLISHED February 2nd, 2015 03:53 am | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am

Clouds of May / Mayis sikintisi

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

1999 / 131 min / DCP / Rating TBA

In Turkish with English subtitles

An aspiring filmmaker Muzaffer returns to his rural hometown to make a movie. He enlists the help of family and friends who remain preoccupied with their own problems. Muzaffer’s father is trying to save his land from being appropriated by the government, while his cousin dreams of leaving for Istanbul and sees Muzaffer as his ticket to the city. Clouds of May presents a film within a film, mirroring Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s own practice as a director, and self-reflexively reflects upon the making of his first film, The Small Town. It serves up a criticism of filmmaking, and questions the aspects of reality and humanity that is chiselled out of frame when one is bent in pursuing a specific ideal. Drawing subtle homages to both Chekhov and Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, Clouds of May is a film of quiet charm and subtle humour which draws its strength from its honest and empathetic portrayal of characters within a rural community. The film was awarded a FIPRESCI Award at the 2000 European Film Awards.

This screening is happening on Saturday, 14 February at 8pm at the National Museum of Singapore.

To purchase tickets, please click [here](http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/wcs2015c).