ANONS

On a rainy May evening four former members of the armed forces convene at an Istanbul bakery in order to herald a new era: the government is to step down and parliament is to be disbanded. Whilst their colleagues in Ankara are preoccupied with the putsch itself, Reha, Kemal, Sinasi and Rifat have an equally important mission to fulfil, a successful military coup has to be announced to the public after all. Before they are able to go on air they have a number of obstacles to overcome: inquisitive taxi drivers, overeager delivery men, traitors within their own ranks and unforeseen bureaucracy, as a result of which they completely forget to ask how matters are proceeding in Ankara …

Laconically captured, and employing both expert camerawork and impressive production design, Mahmut Fazil Coşkun has created a political satire that manages to remain deadly serious in even the most comical of moments. No small wonder given the film was shot in the summer of 2016, a period that witnessed the first coup attempt in Turkey for many a year. RH