Two months after a fatal accident on the open sea, a fisherman returns home completely unharmed — only to find himself navigating a dark reality built by his own fractured mind.
After his boat is seized for debt, Kenan Yelkıran, a lonely fisherman, sails into a deadly storm. Two months later, he washes ashore, alive but without any recollection of his absence.
Wandering the streets of a small, coastal Aegean town — a place that feels increasingly like a trap of his own making — Kenan is haunted by Menodora and Phosagora, cursed sisters from an ancient time, and the heavy echoes of other lives lost.
Confronted with a long-buried trauma, Kenan must answer to the sea and break the cycle of sin that has cursed the land.
Guilt is one of the most ancient and primitive emotions mankind has ever encountered. From the tragic resonance of Cain and Abel to the eternal echoes of sibling betrayal, the journey toward absolution forms a universal narrative. In Kadim Mavi, I use mythology as a living bridge to our modern subconscious. This is where the story of the cursed sisters, Menodora and Phosagora, becomes essential. The film mirrors Kenan's fatal fracture with his brother alongside the ancestral sentence of the sisters — a quiet, symmetrical tragedy repeating across millennia. Though separated by ages, they are entwined by the same Ancient Blue.
This mythological connection suggests that guilt is not merely personal, but ancestral — a cycle of sin that the land itself remembers. To study the human psyche at this depth, cinema becomes the essential vessel, offering a sensory immersion that pulls the viewer directly into the ultimate personification of this burden: the sea. Historically a harsh judge and an emissary of cleansing, the sea serves as a dark abyss where our deepest secrets lurk. Through a final, conscious sacrifice, Kenan lifts the ancient curse from the land for good — an act not of finding peace, but of ultimate surrender to the water's judgment.
To translate this internal purgatory to the screen, the medium itself acts as the language of Kenan's fractured mind. The editing is non-linear, elliptic, and frantic, mirroring the way Kenan accesses his memories only in jagged fragments. Visually and aurally, camera movement and sound design operate in strict harmony to create a cinematic synesthesia, drawing the audience directly into Kenan's eyes and chaotic consciousness. Here, format serves a deliberate thematic divide: celluloid is employed to capture the timeless weight of ancient mythology, while digital framing renders the raw, immediate texture of modern experience.
A Turkish actor spanning theater, film, television and voice acting, taking on his debut leading role in international arthouse cinema.
Born in November 1984, Umut Aksoy is a Turkish actor specializing in theater, film, television, and voice acting. A graduate of Istanbul Arel University and an alumnus of the Berlin Academy of Arts' Acting Workshop, he has built a diverse background in performance before taking on his debut leading role in international arthouse cinema such as Kadim Mavi.
Award-winning Turkish actress bridging mainstream television and international arthouse cinema, most recently praised for Hesitation Wound.
Born in December 1979, Tülin Özen is an award-winning Turkish actress renowned for seamlessly bridging mainstream television and international arthouse cinema. After transitioning from engineering to study theater at Yeditepe University, she broke out in 2004, winning Best Actress at the Golden Orange Film Festival for Angel's Fall. While a household name in Turkey for major series like Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem and Netflix's Ethos (Bir Başkadır), her career is anchored by critical acclaim on the global festival circuit. Most recently, she earned widespread international praise for her lead performance in Selman Nacar's Hesitation Wound (Venice Orizzonti), which earned her Best Actress at the 2024 Istanbul Film Festival.
Turkish theater, television and film actor with a stage career spanning state theatre and independent productions.
Born in June 1993, Barış Kolik is a Turkish theater, television, and film actor. A graduate of the Sadri Alışık Cultural Center Stage Arts Department, his theater credits include performances at the Bursa Adile Naşit State Theatre (Keloğlan Ses Arıyor, Dağ Denize Kavuştu) alongside independent stage productions like Eğlenceli Cinayetler Kumpanyası – Sette Cinayet, Takım Çantası, and Yedi. His screen credits feature appearances in short and feature films, including Prelüd / Başlangıç, Noir, and Galata.
Veteran Turkish theater, film and television actor, and a prominent voice artist widely recognized for Kurtlar Vadisi and Aşkına Eşkıya.
Born in April 1962, Yaşar Karakulak is a Turkish theater, film, and television actor, as well as a prominent voice artist of Caucasian descent. Beginning his stage career in 1981 with Ankara Halk Oyuncuları, he expanded into experimental theater with the Sanat Kurumu Deneme Sahnesi before building a prolific career in voice acting and dubbing for both local and international productions. On screen, he is widely recognized for his roles in notable projects such as Kurtlar Vadisi and Aşkına Eşkıya.
Turkish actress and theater artist, conservatory-trained, and the writer and star of her own independent solo play, Zuhal.
Born in January 2002, Öykü Su Okur is a Turkish actress and theater artist. A graduate of the Istanbul University State Conservatory Theatre Department, she has performed in major stage productions like Afife and Shakespeare in Love, alongside writing and starring in her own independent solo play, Zuhal. On screen, her credits include television series and films such as Akıncı, Bahar, and Bir Arada Yalnız.
Turkish actress and model, runner-up of Miss Turkey 2019, known for high-profile series including Akıncı, Destan and Teşkilat.
Born in August 1996, Bilgi Nur Aydoğmuş is a Turkish actress and model. A graduate of the Istanbul University Faculty of Law who completed professional training at Craft Acting School, she gained broader public recognition as the runner-up of Miss Turkey 2019. On screen, she has appeared in high-profile television series and films such as Akıncı, Destan, and Teşkilat.
Born in April 1993, Emir Ziyalar is an Istanbul-based director and screenwriter. A graduate of Visual Communication Design at Istanbul Bilgi University, he completed his postgraduate studies in Directing at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). Drawing inspiration from surrealist and expressionist traditions, his work is deeply rooted in an auteur approach to cinema.
Born in 1994, Doruk Kumkumoğlu is a visual artist and lecturer living and working in Istanbul. He works with printed and physical mediums, mainly revolving around concepts of perception, illusory representations, and the viewer – image relationship. Recently, his work is focused more on exploring the photographic image and its relationship to a variety of different mediums, in turn creating alternative approaches to photography in the context of its function and conceptual possibilities.
Hayet Benkara is a French-born film industry advisor. For over 15 years she worked at TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival, where she managed the market and TIFF Studio, the first year-round training programme for film professionals. She has since shaped industry programmes for festivals including Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno, and Rotterdam, and launched the industry departments in Dubai and at DFI (Doha Film Institute). In 2021, she launched le Nouveau Marché, a boutique coproduction market in Montreal creating a bridge between Europe and North America.
Born in February 1992, Murat Emkuzhev is a Prague-based cinematographer. A graduate of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), he completed his postgraduate studies in Cinematography at FAMU, where he currently teaches. Alongside his academic work, he maintains an active career as a cinematographer and gaffer within the international industry.
Born in February 1995, Can Kuman is an Istanbul-based composer and sound engineer with a double major in psychology and music. His practice spans contemporary classical, electroacoustic, jazz, and popular music across genres, characterized by an exploratory approach to sound that employs instruments both within and beyond convention. He actively takes part in composing and sound post-production for feature films and documentaries.
Born in October 1993, Jean-Marc Guillier is a French independent filmmaker and assistant director. Transitioning from a background in public policy at Sciences Po Paris and corporate finance into cinema, he studied directing at Prague's FAMU. Alongside directing award-winning short films such as Elsa (2022) and Détresse, he works extensively in assistant direction on major international productions — notably collaborating with auteur Gaspar Noé on Lux Æterna (2019), as well as Netflix's Lupin (Part 3) and Kadim Mavi.
Born in March 1978, Jérôme Pesnel is an acclaimed French film editor known for his extensive career shaping prominent arthouse and avant-garde cinema. His notable credits include working alongside directors like Gaspar Noé on Enter the Void and Lux Aeterna, as well as contributing to critically acclaimed features such as Blue is the Warmest Color and High Life.
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