Doubt
Clair Obscur

Director: Yeşim Ustaoğlu
Producer: Yeşim Ustaoğlu
Screenplay: Yeşim Ustaoğlu
Year: 2016
Cinematographer: Michael Hammon
Music: Antoni Lazarkiewicz
Cast: Funda Eryiğit, Ecem Uzun, Mehmet Kurtuluş, Okan Yalabık, Serkan Keskin
Color: Colorful
Production Company: Ustaoğlu Film Production
Country: Türkiye, Germany, France, Poland
Release date: 16.12.2016
Subject: Two young women whose lives are the same but completely different; Şehnaz and Elmas's paths cross on the morning of a cold and stormy night, and this encounter becomes the beginning of a long, difficult showdown. Şehnaz is a psychiatrist in her early 30s, who has just completed her specialization and started compulsory service in a coastal town. In Istanbul, in her carefully constructed world where nothing seems to be missing, Şehnaz maintains a marriage she thinks is perfect with her successful and charismatic husband Cem, while at the same time having no ties and a settled life in this town not far from Istanbul. He lives without regularity and goes to his home in Istanbul every weekend. Behind these longing-filled trips back and forth every weekend lies a deep-seated unhappiness, a fragile sexuality caught up in the face of Cem's narcissistic desires, and fears that have been postponed and away from confrontation. The life of Elmas, who was forced to marry two years ago, when she was only 16, and brought to the same coastal town, is filled with the overwhelming responsibilities of her mother-in-law's care, cleaning, and forced fulfillment of her husband's sexual desires, which were placed on her at a very early age. Elmas, who has already forgotten that she is a child, is stuck in a life where she feels like she is living in a prison where the walls are closing in on her. When Şehnaz and Elmas' paths cross in the morning of a stormy night, they will face very different but similar problems in their lives, which will enable them to open a new door in their lives. (Taken from press release)

Notes about the movie:
In the film, the phenomenon of women is presented on the axis of traditional opposition through Elmas, who was married at a young age, and modern woman, through Şehnaz, who completed her medical specialization in psychiatry after her university education. The lives of two women are presented in oppositions of modern/traditional, rural/urban, educated/uneducated, independent/dependent, free/captive, working/housewife, public/private.

Awards:
Flying Broom Women's Film Festival (2017) “FIPRESCI Award”
Istanbul Film Festival (2017) Golden Tulip National Competition “Best Director”, “Best Actress” (Ecem Uzun), “Best Original Music”
Eskişehir International Film Festival (2017) “Best Performance” (Ecem Uzun)
Bilkent Sinefest (2017) “Best Director”
Sofia International Film Festival (2017) “Special Jury Prize”
International Kerala Film Festival (2017) “Best Director”, “Best Actress” (Ecem Uzun)
International Haifa Film Festival (2016) “Mediterranean Golden Anchor Competition” “Special Jury Award”
International Antalya Film Festival (2016) “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Actress” (Ecem Uzun)
Film-Direction Association “Best Director”, “Best Actress” (Ecem Uzun)
Asian Project Market (Busan) (2014) “Best Project & Creative Director Award”

Source:
İKSV, https://film.iksv.org/tr
İlbuğa, E. U. (2018). Female characters' search for freedom in Yeşim Ustaoğlu's cinema. Selçuk İletişim, 11(2), 292-320.