Motherland Hotel

Ömer Kavur recreates Zebercet, the receptionist of a sad, bleak hotel in a small Anatolian town, adapting him from Yusuf Atılgan’s novel in an attempt that seemed risky to others. A film about loneliness and solitude, obsession and depression, evidently one of the most painful films in Turkish cinema. Here we have the story of the disintegration of someone who is unaware of the thin ice he stands on. The tragic Zebercet, hopelessly awaits the return of a mysterious woman who once came with the Ankara train and stayed a single night in the hotel, turning this ‘dream-real’ woman into an obsession. He gradually moves away from the reality of everyday life and becomes increasingly introverted, a process reflected in the hotel itself. The film creates the reality of closed spaces and a dream-like atmosphere reminiscent of Kubrick’s The Shining. –Karoly Vary International Film Festival