September (Eylül) (translated)

Cemil Ağacıkoğlu wrote and directed Eylül (September), a 2011 Turkish drama. A fashion photographer by trade, Ağacıkoğlu had made festival-screened shorts including Polis, İp, It Was White, I Am Ivan and Kapak, and this is his first feature. It went on nationwide release in Turkey on September 30, 2011, and runs about 88 minutes.

The story concerns Yusuf and his wife Aslı. When Aslı is hospitalized with suspected lung cancer, both withdraw into themselves and drift apart. At the hospital Yusuf meets Elena, an immigrant woman beaten by her husband. After her discharge Elena calls him and sees him as the only person she can hold on to. The two grow close, but a deep sense of guilt hangs over that closeness. Turgay Aydın, Görkem Yeltan and Elena Polyanskaya share the leads, with Serkan Keskin and Ayten Uncuoğlu also in the cast.

The film premiered in competition at the 35th Montreal World Film Festival (August 18–28, 2011) and won Best Director and Best Actress at the 18th International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival (September 17–25, 2011). One critic found it inadequate, an example of Turkish films that mistake minimalism for smallness.