Hesitation Wound
One tense day in the life of a Turkish criminal defense attorney (Tülin Özen) as she wrestles with legal and ethical questions in defending a factory worker accused of murder while also keeping her hospitalized mother on life support. From Selman Nacar, the director of Between Two Dawns (SIFF 2022).
Director/Writer/Producer Selman Nacar scheduled to attend.
“A truly enticing and welcoming sub-90-minute treat. Between the social commentary, depth of composition and subtlety of performance, Nacar finds the distinctly delicious sweet spot.”—Leila Latif, indieWire
In Hesitation Wound, the second feature from Selman Nacar (Between Two Dawns, SIFF 2022), defense attorney Canan has recently returned to the small Turkish city of U ak having fled the place many years before. After a lengthy spell abroad—a judge makes a sarcastic comment about her UK education—she’s back, now tasked with handling the case of a man on trial for murder, while also tending to her dying mother. Whether she has brought it back with her, or had it before she left, her defining characteristic seems to be the determination to achieve the end she thinks is best by sheer force of will. She has her work cut out for her. During the day, she’s trying to save Musa, a factory worker accused of murdering his boss, from the possibility of life imprisonment. And she may just pull it off, if she can finish her argument before the ceiling of the decrepit courthouse collapses. At night, she’s looking for reasons to keep her comatose mother on life support, against the doctor’s advice, her sister’s wishes, and her mother’s own desire to donate her organs. This may be a harder issue to resolve, and indeed as a certain moral ambiguity arises in both cases, it suggests that Canan’s own will may not be the force she thinks it is.
- Original Language Title: Tereddüt Çizgisi
- Director: Selman Nacar
- Principal Cast: Tülin Özen, Oğulcan Arman Uslu, Gülçin Kültür Şahin, Vedat Erincin, Erdem Şenocak
- Country: Turkey, France, Romania, Spain
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 89 min.
- Producer: Burak Çevik, Diloy Gülün, Selman Nacar
- Screenplay: Selman Nacar
- Cinematographers: Tudor Vladimir Panduru
- Editors: Melik Kuru, Selman Nacar
- Awards: Zurich Film Festival 2023 (Best International Feature), Arras Film Festival 2023 (Best Director)
- Filmography: Between Two Dawns (2021)
- Language: Turkish
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- International Sales: Magnify