Night of Silence (Lal Gece)

Reis Çelik wrote and directed Lal Gece (Night of Silence), a Turkish drama from 2012. Drawing on a true story, it takes up the problem of child brides almost entirely in a single place over a single night. Released on August 24, 2012, it won awards from Berlin to Adana.

To end a blood feud between two families, a young girl is married off to a man some fifty years older who has just returned to his village after many years in prison. Barely adolescent, the bride waits in the wedding room armed only with half-heard hearsay; at first she is afraid and even resists. She begins to face reality once her grandfather-aged groom steps in. The groom is played by the veteran İlyas Salman and the bride by Dilan Aksüt, in her first screen role; Mayşeker Yücel is also in the cast.

Çelik entered cinema through documentaries and made his first fiction feature with Işıklar Sönmesin. The cinematographer is Gökhan Tiryaki. The film won the Crystal Bear in the Generation 14plus section of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, earned Salman the best actor award at the Altın Koza (Golden Boll), and took best screenplay at the Asia Pacific Film Awards. It ranked 68th in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's 2014 poll.