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The directors of hit Turkish biopic “Bergen,” Mehmet Binay and M. Caner Alper, have signed with CAA for representation.

“Bergen” tells the story of 1980s Turkish pop singer Bergen, who grappled with a violent husband that hired someone to pour nitric acid on her face and later shot and killed her. The film follows the singer’s meteoric rise from cello player to becoming Turkey’s “Queen of Arabesque,” all while struggling with a partner hellbent on sabotaging her career.

As previously reported by Variety, the film has become a sleeper box office hit across West Asia where it has resonated with audiences for its potent message about domestic violence. In Turkey, the film sparked controversy and heightened awareness of the government’s lenience towards perpetrators of femicide after the country last year formally left the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty that requires signatories to fight violence against women.

A Turkish biopic about 1980s pop singer Bergen, who grappled with a violent husband that hired someone to pour nitric acid on her face and later shot and killed her, is becoming a sleeper box office hit across West Asia.

The potent female empowerment film, titled “Bergen,” follows the singer’s meteoric rise from cello player to becoming Turkey’s “Queen of Arabesque,” all while struggling with a partner hellbent on sabotaging her career. The pic is helmed by Turkish directorial duo Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay, who are known for works driven by civil liberties and gender issues such as the 2015 drama “Drawers,” about a teenage girl’s sexuality.

Upon grossing a substantial 10 million-plus intake at Turkish cinemas, “Bergen” is now scoring brisk box office returns across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon and Oman. The pic has drawn more than 300,000 admissions and made more than 4.8 million...

Inspired by the real life murder of Ahmet Yildiz, filmmakers Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay set out to tell the story of a friend who was believed to be killed by his father for being in a homosexual relationship. The result is Zenne (or Zenne Dancer) which focuses on three disparate characters forging a friendship that challenges at least one of them to come to terms with who he is. According to Reuters, that’s not all it’s challenging. At least one newspaper in the largely Muslim country has decried the movie as “homosexual propaganda” made by people trying to “legitimiz[e] perversion through their so-called art.” This comes on the heels of the movie winning 5 awards at Turkey’s most respected film festival, the Antalya Golden Orange – including Best First Feature and Best Cinematography. Check out the trailer: Even from the trailer it’s clear that this is a first feature, but...