Distant tells the tale of an encounter between a melancholic and obsessive middle-aged photographer – Mahmut (Muzaffer Ozdemir) and his cousin, an unemployed country boy – Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak) who comes to Istanbul to find a job on a ship. The taciturn, parasitic young man, played by the director’s fetish actor Mehmet Emin Toprak, finds himself encroaching into the closed and colourless world of his cousin.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Director and screenwriter

Nuri Bilge Ceylan was born in Istanbul, Turkey, 1959.

After graduating from the Engineering Department of Bosphorus University, he studied film making for two years at Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul.

His movies include the short film Koza (Cocoon, 1995); Kasaba (The Small Town, 1997); Mayis Sikintisi (Clouds of May, 1999); and Uzak (Distant, 2002).

Mehmet Emin Toprak, who plays Yusuf, was killed in a car crash in December 2002. He posthumously won the Best Actor prize (shared with Muzaffer Ozdemir) in Cannes 2003.