Ayla

Su Turhan's Ayla examines the cultural and generational differences and the resultant clashes that occur when people of one culture emigrate to another country with different customs and traditions. In Ayla's case it is about different generations of Turkish emigrants in Germany.

Ayla is a young German girl of Turkish descent. She has been completely assimilated in German culture and customs, much to the chagrin of her father who has disowned her. She meets Ayhan, a Turkish-German photographer who has even greater problems relating to this cultural gap. His sister has left her husband in Turkey to live a free life in Germany. Ayhan's father has ordered him & his brother to carry out an "honor killing" of their sister. Once Ayla and Ayhan start an intimate relationship, all these problems come to the foreground and make for an absorbing and thought-provoking film.

Ayla is a very topical movie. It is well crafted with natural performances and sensitive direction. Interestingly the actors portraying Ayla and Ayhan are both of Iranian origin! Well worth a look.