In Deliviran, a village near Urfa close to the Syrian border, Hidir’s chief is involved in smuggling and gets shot. Hidir tries to stay out of illegal activities but circumstances contrive to push him in the opposite direction until he accepts to take a herd of sheep across the border.

Directed by Turkish master Lütfi Ömer Akad, this tense, trim neowestern transformed how the nation’s directors tackled social issues. Its stark, poetic realism feels like a fable but maintains the sharp, roving eye of documentary, never shying away from unveiling the brutal reality of rural life.