Ferahfeza (Ships)

Turkish filmmaker Elif Relig’s feature film directing debut, which won the FIPRESCI Award and the Special Jury Prize at the 2013 European Film Festival, centers on Ali (Ugur Uzunel), a shipyard worker stuck in a tiresome job due to his father, who works in the same shipyard. Bored by the monotony, Ali spends time watching ships sail off to distant horizons that he fears he will never visit. One day, Ali discovers a half-completed graffiti mural of a ship and takes it upon himself to find the artist. That creative force is Eda (M. Sitare Akbas), who is also in a suffocating relationship with her father. Ali believes the pair are foreordained to travel to faraway destinations together, although his dreams and reality never quite manage to overlap. The two leads have a dynamic chemistry and their poignant union helps fuel this emotional drama. And under Relig’s expert direction, the relationship between Ali and Eda never grows soggy, while the story also swerves in unpredictable directions that keeps the drama compelling. Cinematographer Turksoy Golebeyi, who shot this feature in 16mm, deserves special kudos. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)