About Dry Grasses – Watch the trailer for the new Turkish film from Nuri Bilge Ceylan

In a village nestled within the wintry landscape of the East Anatolia region of Turkey, an art teacher named Samet (Deniz Celiloglu) is struggling through what he hopes to be his final year at an elementary school. Already tiring of the unforgiving environment, where he has been assigned by the government’s public education system, Samet is further disillusioned and frustrated after a young girl in his class, Sevim, appears to accuse him of inappropriate behavior. The only light on the horizon for Samet is his growing friendship with—and clear attraction to—a teacher from a nearby school, Nuray (Merve Dizdar), a sharp, politically engaged woman unafraid to put the self-involved Samet in his place for his general apathy and narcissism.

Check out the trailer from Janus Films.

Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Three Monkeys, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), the film stars Deniz Celiloglu, Merve Dizdar, and Musab Ekici. It is Turkey’s entry for the Oscars and the film hits US cinemas in 2024.