Kümes

In the 1950s, in a village high in the hills of Antalya where ancient stone buildings sparsely punctuate the rolling countryside, a two-room house sits atop a barn, fronted by a chicken coop. There live Saniye, Suleyman, and their three children. One day Saniye is diagnosed with tuberculosis and told she has not long to live. From her hospital bed, she asks her husband to take on a new wife who can care for their children after her death. However, six months pass, and, to everyone's surprise, Saniye is completely cured. She returns to her house, now also home to the new wife, and an awkward cohabitation begins. "You sleep with the children!" the husband directs his first wife upon her arrival, sending them all downstairs to the barn. Later, this arrangement is amended: "I will sleep with her two nights, and you the third. Why are you complaining?" No one is satisfied; jealousy and competition run rampant—until an unexpected turn of events brings the chickens home to roost. This evocative debut film by Turkish actor Ufuk Bayraktar (Climates), who also plays Suleyman, was inspired by the experiences of his own grandmothers. (Seattle International Film Festival)