The Festival of Troubadours

A very touching story of a lost son & father relationship. Connecting childhood memories while trying to walk over a broken relationship bridge between the past and today, knowing there is not much time left to re-build. Cinematography and acting is five Stars. For whom have lived in Anatolia for some time, or from this land, or traveled there and are familiar with this culture will undoubtedly enjoy the music, scenery, and story more than many of us. Congratulations on bringing us something that is different, not revealing what was the real story behind why the father left his son behind and leave it to our imagination, Everyone can guess and complete their own story in the blanks.

Very unexpected gem of a piece. Festival of Troubadours. You see a part of Turkey that is not the glitzy Istanbul or Bodrum or Izmir, etc. Some scenes reminded me of surreal locations in Gozu of Takashi Miike. It has a strange therapeutic feel to it this movie, gets you into a nihilistic mood, but still with a dash of hope somehow. Bare mountains and at times green valleys with half dried out river streams add to the melancholy. A slow, 90min ride of a son and a dying troubadour dad suddenly showing up after 25 years of disappearance. Lost love, lives and nothing but a subtle ode to Asik Veysel and maybe real Turkish spirit of innocence long lost these days.

I'm not that much into turkish movies, but when I saw the trailer on Netflix, an old guy holding a Saz in his hands had to watch it, while my father was also Saz teacher. The movie is a nice reflection of anger and love combined, it touches you, while you sometimes feels the same feeling's against your loved ones. Definitely worth watching, the acting is GREAT, the cinematography is great!! Kivanc is really a great actor, it was beyond my expectations. A journey that also shows you the eastern parts of Turkey, the hospitality of the people living there, culture, traditions... the love for the Saz, which is really a big part of the culture, especially in the middle eastern part on turkey...

Brilliant acting, pitch perfect dialogue! Not a film for those who crave action-packed scenes, but rather for those who appreciate an in-depth portrayal of a wounded relationship, in this case between musician father and attorney son. The Turkish music and stunning, stark landscapes provide an amazing backdrop to this novel road film featuring two people in a car for most of it. It's a tour de force, keeping the viewer engaged in a 90-minute or so conversation. Along the way as the car journeys to some small towns, we learn in stunningly economical but evocative scenes about the father's past, with a subtlety that totally eludes even the most serious Hollywood films. That is just part of the magic of Ozcan Alper's directing.

What a beautiful movie I have just watched! It was unbelievably slow but also unbelievably beautiful...

Nothing exciting is happening in this movie. Most of the time, you will be just watching two main characters, a father and his 39-year old son, driving in a car through eastern Turkey and barely speaking to each other. Minimum actions and minimum words... This movie is not entertaining at all ... this movie is more like a much needed nap after a busy day at work ... it is like a sip of fresh spring water on a long hike... Breathtaking scenery of eastern Turkey and genuine honest emotions delivered by Kivanc Tatlitug and Settar Tanriogen - that is what will make your heart melt.

Both leading actors delivered outstanding performances but Kivanc is the one who simply blew my mind. How an actor not only is able to share such strong beautiful emotions with the audience but also does it so sincerely and naturally that makes me truly empathize with this lost little (39-year old) boy and makes me feel his pain as it is my own! Empathy... these feelings often get lost in the modern hi-tech world. Hats off to Kivanc for bringing them back! I hope to see more of him in the future in movies like this one.

This movie was a nice ending to my busy holiday weekend. It is a movie about forgiveness... about forgiving and being forgiven. We need more movies like this one in our fast paced life - movies that are unbelievably slow but also unbelievably beautiful... movies that gently remind us that life itself is unbelievably short but also unbelievably beautiful and there is absolutely no room for hard feelings in it, no matter how hard we try to keep them there.

I know that I will watch this movie again.