Trailer Debuts for Ilker Catak’s ‘Yellow Letters’ Ahead of World Premiere in Competition at Berlinale (EXCLUSIVE)

The trailer has debuted for İlker Çatak’s “Yellow Letters,” which has just been selected to play in competition at the Berlinale, where his last film, the Oscar-nominated “The Teachers’ Lounge,” also launched.

International sales are handled by Brussels-based sales company Be For Films, while German distribution is handled by A La Mode, which will release the film theatrically in Germany on March 5.

“Yellow Letters,” starring Turkish actors Özgü Namal and Tansu Biçer, is a political drama that explores how authoritarian pressure infiltrates private lives and fractures families from within.

The film is set in the artistic and academic milieu and portrays the silent mechanisms of exclusion and the emotional toll of waiting, fear and uncertainty, while examining how political systems shape the most intimate decisions of everyday life.

It is produced by Ingo Fliess of If… Productions, in co-production with Haut et Court in France and Limanfilm in Turkey.

The film reunites Çatak with key collaborators from “The Teachers’ Lounge,” including cinematographer Judith Kaufmann, editor Gesa Jäger, production designer Zazie Knepper and composer Marvin Miller.

“Yellow Letters” follows an artist couple Derya and Aziz who experience the arbitrariness of the Turkish state and lose their jobs and livelihood overnight. The trade-off between their ideals and the necessities of life proves to be a challenge for their marriage.

“This story is about people who have lost their employment, their social status and their right to exist in Turkish society due to state arbitrariness,” said Çatak, who wrote the screenplay with Ayda Çatak.

“There are a number of artists who are no longer allowed to be in Turkey and I want to give these people a chance and cast our film with actors who are now or soon living in exile,” Çatak continued.