Çogunluk (Majority)
Director: Seren Yüce
2010. Turkey. 111 minutes.
Cast: Bartu Küçükçağlayan, Settar Tanrıöğen, Nihal Koldaş, Esme Madra, İlhan Hacıfazlıoğlu, Cem Zeynel Kılıç, Feridun Koç, Mehmet Ünal, Erkan Can

Majority has two meanings, the demographic and life stage.

A fat boy and his father exercise. Years later, in hamam, father and son have matching guts. Insensitive and proud of it. Kicking vacuuming housekeeper.

Routes to adulthood and a middle class life . Marriage. Army.

But there’s a girl at the cafe. A nice girl, university student. She likes him. She brings him home. He has no idea how to be with a woman. And oh, yes – she is a Kurd.

She tries hard to humanize him. A little affection. Love.

He has no dreams or aspirations. She dreams for him. Why not become an architect?

His life becomes shit. She is actually the best thing about it.

But he hears, among his father’s friends, “These people want to divide our country.” Get your head straight in the army. A young muslim Turk should know the enemy.

Seren Yüce was first assistant director on Ozer Kiziltan’s Takva (A Man’s Fear of God) and Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven. Majority is his first feature-length film.

Read the ND/NF essay.