Samet yearns to leave this snowy oblivion. After spending three years as a visual arts teacher in a small village in Eastern Turkey, he spends his free time between classes with one of his students and despises his life. His thoughts are elsewhere – he believes he should work at a better school in Istanbul. When the details about his relationship with a student become public, things take a turn for the worse for Samet. Will the restlessness ever end? Perhaps the collegial friendship with the former radical Nureya – a young teacher from Ankara – might help him realise a thing or two about himself? Maybe it will bring some hope to this barren place where no grass doth grow?

The Turkish director and screenwriter Ceylan is one of the most awarded authors in the history of the Cannes Film Festival. This year the festival screened his latest conceptual drama, for which actress Merve Dizdar, playing the liberal teacher Nureya, won an award for best actress. The poetic film is an unhurried and captivating exploration of the topic of individual and collective responsibility. Ceylan wrote the screenplay, drawing inspiration from the diary of Akin Aksu (co-author of the film’s script and a former teacher). The diary chronicles a story about a “scandal in the province”. As if holding a delicate glass figurine in his hand, the director examines the fragile values and understanding of good and evil of each character – an undertaking that, in the director’s opinion, given the moral climate in Turkey under Erdogan’s rule, is the most important aspect of the film.

This film is screened as part of a cooperation with Lācis, lauva un zars.