Blockade (Abluka) (translated)

Emin Alper wrote and directed Abluka, a Turkish drama released abroad as Frenzy. A co-production of Turkey, France and Qatar, it is Alper's second feature after Tepenin Ardı. Premiered at Venice, it opened in Türkiye on November 6, 2015, and runs 119 minutes. Mehmet Özgür, Berkay Ateş and Tülin Özen lead.

The story follows Kadir, paroled after twenty years in prison. In an Istanbul of street-level political unrest, he gets work through Hamza (Müfit Kayacan), a senior police figure. The job is garbage collecting, but in truth he is an informer: he searches shantytown rubbish for bomb-making material and reports what he finds. In one of those districts Kadir runs into his brother Ahmet, who works for the municipal stray-dog culling unit. Ahmet does not return his efforts to grow close, and that coldness breeds conspiracy theories in Kadir.

In the Venice Golden Lion competition, the film took the Special Jury Prize plus the Arca CinemaGiovani and Bisato d'Oro awards; it also played in Toronto. It was best film at the 22nd Adana Golden Boll, where Berkay Ateş won the rising young actor prize. In 2016 the Film Critics Association honored it for film, editing and screenplay, and Alper as director. Music and sound design are by Cevdet Erek.