Kara Köpekler Havlarken

Husband and wife directorial team Mehmet Bahadır Er and Maryna Gorbach made their stunning feature début with this powerful little drama which has won them the Cinema Writers Association Best Film Award at the 21st Ankara International Film Festival as well as critical comparisons to a young Martin Scorsese.

Sometime pigeon trainer Selim (Cemal Toktaş) and best friend Çaça (Volga Sorgu) quickly find themselves out of their depth as they go behind the back of their local mafia boss to enter into a bidding war for a mall car park contract against a hard-nosed security contractor who does not welcome the competition.

The bland Cemal Toktaş is amiable enough in the lead role and develops a good relationship with award-winning stereotypical comedy sidekick Volga Sorgu and romantic interest Ayfer Dönmez but all are outshone by a superb supporting cast headed by veteran Erkan Can which includes Taylan Ertugrul, Murat Daltaban and a menacing Ergun Kuyucu.

The happily wedded film-makers have created a gritty and realistic look at Istanbul's treacherous underbelly which demonstrates an authentic ear for dialogue and tells an all to familiar tale which might prove a little too dark and depressing to make the film entirely palatable to international audiences.

"I have great plans for you."