Yol

The final film of Yılmaz Güney’s career is widely regarded as his magnum opus – a summation of the Kurdish director’s artistic quest, shaped by years of struggle against the Turkish state. It is fitting, then, that the first Palme d’Or awarded to Turkey went to a representative of a persecuted minority: a filmmaker who, throughout his career, exposed political violence, illuminated social inequality and underscored the importance of justice. Yol was conceived in prison and speaks to that experience directly, following five Kurdish men newly released from custody, each of them facing a fate as difficult and complex as the next. The film was made at a distance: Güney sent detailed instructions and a precise plan to his collaborator Şerif Gören, who carried them out. The result is a striking blend of genres, emotions, characters and attitudes towards the system, born of lived experience. It is politically urgent cinema, but never merely journalistic.

Michał Konarski

Yılmaz Güney (1937–1984) – Kurdish film director, screenwriter, and actor. Deeply politically engaged, his films portrayed the harsh realities of working-class life and of marginalized communities. His cinema combines social realism with poetic sensitivity and an original visual style. A number of his films were made while he was in prison, working with his close collaborator Şerif Gören. Together they won the first Palme d’Or in the history of Turkish cinema for Yol (The Road, 1982).

Şerif Gören (1944–2024) – Turkish film director, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career as an assistant to Yılmaz Güney. After Güney’s imprisonment, he directed films based on his scripts and artistic concepts. Together they won the first Palme d’Or in the history of Turkish cinema for Yol (The Road, 1982).