''Kuma'' (Turkish: "concubine") is a 2012 Austrian film directed by Umut Dag about a Turkish immigrant family living in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Umut Dag’s mature feature debut is a rich tapestry of swirling emotions, suppressed desires, unspoken words and uncomfortable yet pressing social and political questions.

Plot

Fatma, a housewife around 50, lives in Vienna with her husband Mustafa and their six children. She grew up in Turkey and clings to the traditions and values of the old country. Her son Hasan gets married in rural Turkey to the 19-year old Ayse. When the family takes Ayse to Vienna this is revealed as a charade. Ayse is to be the kuma (second wife) of Fatma’s husband Mustafa. Ayse is welcomed by the family, although polygamy is illegal in Austria. Her presence in a foreign country marks her as an outsider. Tension grows between Western norms and Muslim beliefs.

Cast

*Nihal G. Koldas as Fatma *Begüm Akkaya as Ayse *Vedat Erincin as Mustafa *Murathan Muslu as Hasan *Alev Imak as Kezvan *Aliye Esra Salebci as Gülsen

Reception

''Kuma'' has won several international awards including the Special Audience Prize at the 2012 Lecce Festival of European Cinema and the Golden Starfish Award at the 2012

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October a ...

. At the 2012

Philadelphia Film Festival The Philadelphia Film Festival is a film festival founded by the Philadelphia Film Society held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The annual festival is held at various theater venues throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area. Overview The annual ...

Begüm Akkaya won Honorable Mention in the category of Best Actress. The film was nominated for Best Debut Film at the

62nd Berlin International Film Festival The 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2012. British film director Mike Leigh was the President of the Jury. The first five films to be screened in the competition were announced on 19 December 2011. Am ...

. Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

rated the film three stars out of five, and described it as "strongly and honestly acted", with "a strong hint of soapy melodrama". In a review for ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', Tim Robey awarded ''Kuma'' the same rating and described it as a "vigorous and engrossing debut".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=2215215 2012 films Austrian drama films 2010s German-language films 2010s Turkish-language films 2012 multilingual films Austrian multilingual films