Yeşim Ustaoğlu's 'Artakalan' Competes for Golden Shell at 74th San Sebastián Film Festival

Turkish director Yeşim Ustaoğlu returns to the San Sebastián International Film Festival with 'Artakalan', screening in the official competition for the Concha de Oro at the event's 74th edition. Ustaoğlu previously won the festival's top prize in 2008 with 'La boîte de Pandore'. The film follows Elif, a poet portrayed by Oyku Karayel, and Mehmet, a composer and university music professor played by Metin Akdülger, a couple raising a young son whose creative and personal lives have stalled. Elif, unable to write, travels toward her grandparents' village in a distant mountain region, while Mehmet, dismissed from his job, leaves the city with their child to care for his ill elderly father. The character of Elif draws inspiration from Turkish poet Birhan Keskin, a friend of the director, and excerpts of her introspective texts punctuate the film. Shot between Trabzon and the Caucasus mountains, the region where Ustaoğlu grew up, the feature incorporates images from a documentary she made about the area's transformation, including dam construction and submerged villages. Turkey is the festival's Focus country this year, a programme designed to foster contacts between producers. Director Tayfur Aidin is also present, with a film in post-production selected for the WIP-Europa section. The article was published on 24 September 2026.