Murat Fıratoğlu’s One of the Days When Hemme Dies, which debuted at last year’s Venice Film Festival, has been chosen to represent Turkey in the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
One of the Days When Hemme Dies screened in the Orizzonti Competition last year in Venice, where it won the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize. The film follows Eyüp, who works relentlessly under the blazing sun during a tomato harvest in southeastern Turkey, driven by the urgent need to settle an impending debt. After a clash with his supervisor, he roams the city in search of a radical solution.
After Venice, the film played the Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo, Eurasia International Film Festival, Stockholm International Film Festival, and the Marrakech International Film Festival.
One of the Days When Hemme Dies is Firatoğlu’s debut feature. He has directed a series of short projects, including Straw Dust (2007), The Edge of All Possibilities (2008), Albatros Dreams (2008), and The Photo of Kholoud Ahmed (2016).
Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry announced Fıratoğlu’s selection this month. The country’s last submission was Life by Zeki Demirkubuz. That film starred Miray Daner as a young woman who runs away to Istanbul to escape an arranged marriage but still struggles to break free of male domination.Last year’s Best International Feature Film winner was I’m Still Here by Walter Salles.
