One of the most singular voices in Turkish cinema in the last decade, Seren Yüce’s films search for the roots of toxic masculinity and male privilege by exposing the deadlocks of the nuclear middle-class family. The films presented in this double bill, his only two fiction features to date, feature weak-willed characters who lack the power to break the pattern of patriarchal domination. Majority (2010), Yüce’s stunning feature debut, which premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti section, is an achingly accurate portrayal of a father-son relationship that looks at how Turkey’s ruling classes perpetuate themselves. Yüce’s dissection of the modern Turkish family continues in Swaying Waterlily (2016), which demonstrates the futility of the neoliberal dream of self-fulfillment in a social environment deprived of genuine feelings and intimacy. Yüce’s films hint at the mechanisms of oppression without directly showing them. By emphasizing the innate power structures of the privileged majority, these films perfectly describe how the ruling classes are formed, and how hierarchies are built across generations.

One of the most singular voices in Turkish cinema in the last decade, Seren Yüce&#8217;s films search for the roots of toxic masculinity and male privilege by exposing the deadlocks of the nuclear middle-class family. The films presented in this double bill, his only two fiction features to date, feature weak-willed characters who lack the power to break the pattern of patriarchal domination. Majority (2010), Yüce&#8217;s stunning feature debut, which premiered in Venice&#8217;s Orizzonti section, is an achingly accurate portrayal of a father-son relationship that looks at how Turkey&#8217;s ruling classes perpetuate themselves. Yüce&#8217;s dissection of the modern Turkish family continues in Swaying Waterlily (2016), which demonstrates the futility of the neoliberal dream of self-fulfillment in a social environment deprived of genuine feelings and intimacy. Yüce&#8217;s films hint at the mechanisms of oppression without directly showing them. By emphasizing the innate power structures of the privileged majority, these films perfectly describe how the ruling classes are formed, and how hierarchies are built across generations.

Ruins of the Nuclear Family: A Seren Yüce Double Bill

RUINS OF THE NUCLEAR FAMILY: A SEREN YÜCE DOUBLE BILL

One of the most singular voices in Turkish cinema in the last decade, Seren Yüce’s films search for the roots of toxic masculinity and male privilege by exposing the deadlocks of the nuclear middle-class family.

One of the most singular voices in Turkish cinema in the last decade, Seren Yüce&#8217;s films search for the roots of toxic masculinity and male privilege by exposing the deadlocks of the nuclear middle-class family.