About Dry Grasses

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About Dry Grasses
French theatrical release poster
TurkishKuru Otlar Üstüne
Directed byNuri Bilge Ceylan
Written by
Produced byNuri Bilge Ceylan[1]
Starring
Cinematography
  • Kürşat Üresin
  • Cevahir Şahin
Edited by
  • Nuri Bilge Ceylan
  • Oğuz Atabaş
Music byPhilip Timofeyev
Production
companies
  • NBC Film
  • Memento Production
  • Komplizen Film
Distributed by
  • Memento Distribution (France)
  • Bir Film (Turkey)
  • eksystent Filmverleih (Germany)
Release dates
  • 19 May 2023 (2023-05-19) (Cannes)
  • 12 July 2023 (2023-07-12) (France)
  • 29 September 2023 (2023-09-29) (Turkey)
  • 16 May 2024 (2024-05-16) (Germany)
Running time
197 minutes[2]
Countries
  • Turkey
  • France
  • Germany
LanguageTurkish
Box officeUS$2.3 million[3]

About Dry Grasses (Turkish: Kuru Otlar Üstüne) is a 2023 Turkish-language drama film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan and co-written by Ceylan, Ebru Ceylan, and Akın Aksu. Starring Deniz Celiloğlu, Merve Dizdar and Musab Ekici, it follows a teacher working in rural eastern Anatolia with hopes of moving to Istanbul when he is accused of abusing a student. The film premiered in the main competition section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where Dizdar won the Best Actress award. It was selected as the Turkish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.[4]

Plot

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Samet is a teacher who used to live in Istanbul but has been assigned to a post at a remote village in Eastern Anatolia for years. He comes back from holidays for the winter term. He and his co-worker and roommate Kenan are soon accused of inappropriate behavior by two female pupils. To Samet's dismay, one of them is Sevim, who has been so far a protégée of his. In parallel, both Samet and Kenan meet together, and then separately, Nuray, a teacher in a neighboring village. The latter has been the victim of a terrorist explosion some time before and misses a leg. Together they discuss the possibilities and limits of living in the region. While Kenan and Nuray seem to fall in love, Samet's attitude changes and he too begins to take interest in Nuray despite his first impression.

Cast

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Production

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About Dry Grasses is Ceylan's ninth feature length film, and his tenth overall. He co-wrote the script with his wife Ebru Ceylan and Akın Aksu; they also co-wrote Ceylan's previous film, The Wild Pear Tree (2018). The script took around two years to complete, and filming began in March 2021 in Erzurum; nature shots were also filmed in Adıyaman.[5][6][7] Kürşat Üresin and Cehavir Şahin served as the film's cinematographers.[8]

About Dry Grasses received funding of €470,000 from the European Council's Eurimages fund, in addition to ₺2 million from Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.[6] The film was produced by Ceylan's NBC Film with France's Memento Production and Germany's Komplizen Film,[9] in co-production with Second Land, Film i Väst, Arte France Cinéma, Bayerischer Rundfunk, TRT Si̇nema, and Playtime.[10][11][12][13]

Release

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About Dry Grasses was announced as one of nineteen films selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival[14][15] where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2023.[16]

The film was distributed in France by Memento Distribution on 12 July 2023 under the title Les Herbes sèches.[17] It was also invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival in the Acclaimed section, where it was screened on 12 August 2023.[18] Following screenings were held at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and 2023 New York Film Festival.[19][20] It was theatrically released in Turkey by Bir Film on 29 September 2023.[21] It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'Icon' section and screened on 5 October 2023.[22] About Dry Grasses was selected as 'midfest gala' film of the 54th International Film Festival of India and was screened in November 2023.[23] The film was released in the US by Sideshow and Janus Films on 23 February 2024.[24] Eksystent Filmverleih distributed the film in Germany on 16 May 2024.[25]

Reception

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Critical response

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On Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 57 critic reviews are positive for the film, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "About Dry Grasses keeps us warm with dark humor through its unhurried and verbose wintry meditation on the human condition."[26] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 22 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[27]

Awards and nominations

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 27 May 2023 Palme d'Or Nuri Bilge Ceylan Nominated [14]
Best Actress Merve Dizdar Won [28]
Jerusalem Film Festival 23 July 2023 The Nechama Rivlin Award for Best International Film About Dry Grasses Nominated [29]
Chicago International Film Festival 22 October 2023 Gold Hugo Nominated [30]
Silver Hugo for Best Supporting Performance Ece Bağcı Won [31]
Lumières Award 22 January 2024 Best International Co-Production About Dry Grasses Won [32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About Dry Grasses". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  2. ^ "KURU OTLAR USTUNE". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  3. ^ "About Dry Grasses (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  4. ^ ""Kuru Otlar Üstüne", Türkiye'nin Oscar adayı seçildi!". Al Ain Türkçe (in Turkish). 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Nuri Bilge Ceylan'ın yeni filmi "Kuru Otlar Üstüne" nin çekimleri başladı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 30 March 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Nuri Bilge Ceylan yeni filmi "Kuru Otlar Üstüne"nin çekimlerine başladı". T24 (in Turkish). 31 March 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Kuru Otlar Üstüne filmi konusu nedir? Kuru Otlar Üstüne nerede çekildi?". Timeturk (in Turkish). 13 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Nuri Bilge Ceylan'ın Kuru Otlar Üstüne filmi Cannes'da". Karar (in Turkish). 13 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  9. ^ Roxborough, Scott (31 May 2023). "Sideshow, Janus Films Take Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Cannes Competition Title 'About Dry Grasses' for U.S. (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  10. ^ Lodge, Guy (19 May 2023). "'About Dry Grasses' Review: Nuri Bilge Ceylan Paints the Minutiae of Misanthropy on a Vast, Ravishing Canvas". Variety. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Nuri Bilge Ceylan'ın yeni filmi Kuru Otlar Üstüne Cannes ana yarışmasında yarışacak (Kuru Otlar Üstüne oyuncuları ve konusu)". NTV (in Turkish). 13 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Nuri Bilge Ceylan'ın yeni filmi Kuru Otlar Üstüne, 76. Cannes Film Festivali'nde Altın Palmiye için yarışacak". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). 13 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Nuri Bilge Ceylan'ın "Kuru Otlar Üstüne" filmi 76. Cannes Film Festivali'nde yarışacak". Euronews (in Turkish). 13 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  14. ^ a b Keskin, Buse (13 April 2023). "Nuri Bilge Ceylan's 'About Dry Grasses' competes in Cannes". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Nuri Bilge Ceylan's new film About Dry Grasses will compete in Cannes". English Bianet. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  16. ^ mraultpauillac (10 May 2023). "The Screenings Guide of the 76th Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Les herbes sèches". www.memento.eu (in French). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  18. ^ "About Dry Grasses" [Kuru Otlar Üstüne]. 27 PUCP Lima Film Festival (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  19. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (10 August 2023). "TIFF 2023 Centerpiece Program Showcases Aki Kaurismäki, Wim Wenders, Agnieszka Holland, and More". IndieWire. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  20. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (8 August 2023). "New York Film Festival Unveils 2023 Lineup: 'Zone of Interest,' 'Poor Things,' 'Anatomy of a Fall' and More". Variety. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  21. ^ "Kuru Otlar Üstüne". www.birfilm.net (in French). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  22. ^ "The 28th Busan International Film Festival: Selection List". Busan International Film Festival. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  23. ^ Naman Ramachandran (7 November 2023). "'Catching Dust,' 'The Featherweight' to Bookend Goa Film Festival, Michael Douglas to Deliver Masterclass". Variety. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  24. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (28 November 2023). "'About Dry Grasses' Trailer: Turkey's Oscar Entry Is Another Masterclass from Nuri Bilge Ceylan". IndieWire. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Auf trockenen Gräsern". eksystent (in German). Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  26. ^ "About Dry Grasses". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  27. ^ "About Dry Grasses". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  28. ^ Debruge, Peter (27 May 2023). "Cannes Awards: 'Anatomy of a Fall' Takes Palme d'Or, 'The Zone of Interest' and 'The Pot au Feu' Among Winners". Variety. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  29. ^ Brown, Hannah (28 June 2023). "2023 Jerusalem Film Fest announces international movie lineup". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  30. ^ Kay, Jeremy (14 September 2023). "'Fallen Leaves', 'About Dry Grasses', 'La Chimera' among Chicago fest international line-up (exclusive)". Screendaily. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  31. ^ "59th Chicago International Film Festival Announces Award-Winners". RogerEbert.com. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  32. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (22 January 2024). "'Anatomy of a Fall' Wins Best Film, Actress, Screenplay at France's Lumiere Awards". Variety. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
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