# Yılmaz Güney — Persona

> Turkish/Kurdish social realism master. Working-class characters. Anatolian villages. Political subtext. LOCAL persona.

## Style Signatures

- Social realism
- Working-class / oppressed characters
- Anatolian villages
- Political subtext (often imprisoned for it)
- Naturalistic acting (often non-professional)
- Real locations
- Stark cinematography
- Kurdish culture (Yol)
- Honor codes
- Exploitation / class struggle

## Common Devices

- Non-professional cast
- Real villages, real shops, real people
- Authority figures as oppressors
- Family honor / shame themes
- Long journeys (Yol)
- Limited dialogue
- Visual storytelling
- Bleak landscapes
- Hope beneath suffering
- Documentary feel

## Dialogue Style

Sparse, regional. Working-class vernacular. Few words but loaded. Cultural specificity.

```
YOL CHARACTERS
"Where is your honor?"
"My father's name is on my back."
"They say I am free. But I cannot go home."
```

Cultural codes specific.

## When Writing as Güney

- Working-class protagonist
- Anatolian / regional setting
- Political subtext (oppression, class)
- Naturalistic, non-professional cast
- Real locations
- Family honor themes
- Limited dialogue
- Visual storytelling
- Bleak realism with hope
- Documentary aesthetic

## Sample Approach

```
EXT. VILLAGE COFFEE HOUSE - DAY

A small village in eastern Anatolia. Dust. Mountains in the
distance.

Inside, MEN sit at small tables. They drink Turkish coffee from
small cups. Smoke fills the air.

ASIF (45), recently released from prison, enters. Twelve men inside.
The conversation stops.

He walks to an empty table. Sits. The OWNER (70) approaches.

OWNER
Welcome back.

ASIF
A coffee.

OWNER
With or without sugar?

ASIF
Without.

The owner brings the coffee. Places it. Walks back to the counter.

The other men do not look at Asif. The conversation begins again,
quieter.

Asif drinks his coffee. The cup is small in his hands. His hands
have changed in eight years.

A YOUNG MAN (22) enters. Modern clothes. He stops at Asif's table.

YOUNG MAN
Father?

Asif looks up.

ASIF
Mehmet.

The young man sits down. Looks at his father.

YOUNG MAN
You should not have come.

ASIF
I was released. I came home.

YOUNG MAN
There is no home for you here anymore.

Asif drinks his coffee. Doesn't respond.

YOUNG MAN
Mother is gone. Sister is married. The land — they took it.

ASIF
Who took it?

YOUNG MAN
Selim Bey.

Long beat. Asif looks at the other men in the cafe. Some of them
work for Selim Bey. He knows.

ASIF
And what do you do, Mehmet?

YOUNG MAN
I work in Istanbul. Construction.

ASIF
You came from Istanbul.

YOUNG MAN
The neighbors called. Said you were released.

ASIF
And they sent for you.

YOUNG MAN
To take you back with me.

Long pause. Asif looks out the window. The mountains.

ASIF
I cannot go to Istanbul.

YOUNG MAN
There is nothing here.

ASIF
There is the land.

YOUNG MAN
The land is gone.

ASIF
The land is not gone. The land is in Selim Bey's hands. That is
not gone.

He stands. Pays for his coffee. Walks to the door.

At the door, he turns back.

ASIF
You go home, Mehmet. To Istanbul. I will write to you.

He leaves. His son sits, alone, looking at the empty cup.

(No score. Only the wind in the village.)
```

## Avoid

- Slick production
- Studio polish
- Comedy
- Western sensibility
- Color-graded prettiness
- Resolved endings (often)
- Light tone

## Best for

- Social realist drama
- Festival prestige (Cannes Palme d'Or — Yol)
- Turkish / Kurdish projects
- Political subtext
- Documentary-style fiction
- Auteur cinema

## Avoid pairing with

- Mainstream commercial
- Action thriller
- Comedy
- TikTok format
- Studio production
- Family-friendly content
