Hope has been named Turkish Cinema’s best ever film in many previous polls. It does, in fact, represent a key turning point in Turkish filmmaking; one that, after The Ugly King (Cirkin Kral) marked the beginning of the Yılmaz Guney phenomenon. It is quite simply a masterpiece… Hope is also the first and most striking example of how deeply Guney was influenced by Italian Neo-Realism. In this film, in particular, it becomes clear that he also made his own valuable contribution to the heritage. Cabbar, a destitute carriage driver from Adana, leads a life of misery, struggling to make ends meet for his wife, ageing mother and five children. He invests all his hope in lottery tickets; only fortune never smiles on him. Cabbar is squeezed by his creditors, pushed around and humiliated. One of his horses dies; the creditors appropriate the other. In the end, his only way forward is to hunt for buried treasure under the directions of a hodja with powerful insight. And the second half of the film is given over to the search for the treasure. Yılmaz Guney depicts horrific poverty and despair in shockingly stark terms; a language hitherto unknown to Turkish cinema. 

Awards: Best Film, Best Music, Best Script, Best Actor Adana • Special Prize Grenoble