Zühre Canay Güven
Abstract: New Turkish Cinema embraces minimalist audio-visual elements, with long takes, contemplative narratives, and a mediated film experience that invites slow engagement and introspection. Through a focused comparison of Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Zeki Demirkubuz, two of the most influential and internationally recognized figures in this movement, this article examines how their distinct directorial styles articulate the aesthetics of slowness. Both emerged in the 1990s as central figures in the post-Yeşilçam cinematic landscape, yet their approaches differ markedly. Ceylan’s films employ rural landscapes, subdued rhythms, and interior stillness, while Demirkubuz crafts existential narratives in confined urban settings through stark realism and elliptical storytelling. Despite their stylistic differences, both directors adopt techniques associated with global slow cinema. This article argues that slowness in New Turkish Cinema functions not merely as a matter of pacing, but as a cinematic strategy for expressing cultural unease, offering a lens to reflect on memory and identity.
Keywords: New Turkish cinema, Slow cinema, Contemplative cinema, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Zeki Demirkubuz
Zühre Canay Güven
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1658448
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025
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