Hear the Yellow

Leyla is her confidante and companion. With her reddish-white fur and calm, supple gestures, the cat fits perfectly to Suna, who is on her way to her nephew’s wedding and driving her rental car through the breathtaking landscape of her Anatolian homeland. All the way to the edge of the deep crater lake where something tragic once occurred. Her sister died, leaving only her shoe behind. It becomes Suna’s mission, or even obsession, to illuminate the dark recesses of the past. She spends her days in the village looking for the cat and for people who will speak openly with her – which turns out to be difficult, as her brother, sister-in-law and most of the other village inhabitants have thrown a cloak of silence over everything, not just her sister’s death. Her nephew – unsure about rural traditions and inheriting the buffalo herd – and young saz player Fidan become her kindred spirits. Tapping into the power, determination and stylistic grandeur of her protagonist in cinematic terms, Banu Sıvacı creates a veritable shimmer between souls with the titular synaesthesia of her second feature. Turkish women power at its finest. (Barbara Wurm)

Banu Sıvacı was born in Adana in 1987. After graduating from the Department of Painting, she worked as an assistant director on feature films. Güvercin (2018), her first feature film as a director, had its world premiere in the Generation section of the 68th Berlin Film Festival and was nominated for Best First Film by the GWFF. Güvercin won five awards including Best Film and Best Screenplay at the 33rd Valencia Film Festival, Best Director at the 22nd Sofia Film Festival, and Best Youth Film at the 2018 APSA Awards.

Director Banu Sıvacı. Screenplay Banu Sıvacı. Cinematography Yusuf Aslanyürek. Editing ismet Araç. Music Canset Özge Can. Sound Design Can Ülgencioğlu. Production Design Reyhan Acar. Costumes Merve Igus. Make-Up Eminenur Kaygısız. Casting Heran Akkaynak. Producers Yusuf Aslanyürek, Banu Sıvacı, Orkun Huylu. Production companies Aslanyurek Film Productions (Istanbul, Turkey), Anagraf Film (Istanbul, Turkey), Anfilm (Istanbul, Turkey). With Selva Erdener, Suleyman Kadim Kabaali, Asena Hotamış, Kerem Ozdogan, Okan Selvi, Doğukan Töngel, Dilşah Demir, Kerem Özdoğan, Feridun Koç.

Films: 2018: Güvercin / The Pigeon (Berlinale Generation 14plus 2018). 2026: Hear the Yellow.