Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
"Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da" (original title)

A group of men set out in search of a dead body in the Anatolian steppes.

Director:

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writers:

Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan,

Stars:

Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel

10 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Muhammet Uzuner	...	Doctor Cemal
Yilmaz Erdogan	...	Commissar Naci
Taner Birsel	...	Prosecutor Nusret
Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan	...	Driver Arab Ali
Firat Tanis	...	Suspect Kenan
Ercan Kesal	...	Mukhtar
Erol Erarslan	...	Murder Victim Yasar
Ugur Aslanoglu	...	Courthouse Driver Tevfik
Murat Kiliç	...	Police Officer Izzet
Safak Karali	...	Courthouse Clerk Abidin
Emre Sen	...	Sergeant Onder
Burhan Yildiz	...	Suspect Ramazan
Nihan Okutucu	...	Yasar's wife Gülnaz
Cansu Demirci	...	Mukhtar's Daughter Cemile
Kubilay Tunçer	...	Autopsy Technician Sakir

Storyline

In the rural area around the Anatolian town of Keskin, the local prosecutor, police commissar, and doctor lead a search for a victim of a murder to whom a suspect named Kenan and his mentally challenged brother confessed. However, the search is proving more difficult than expected as Kenan is fuzzy as to the body's exact location. As the group continues looking, its members can't help but chat among themselves about both trivia and their deepest concerns in an investigation that is proving more trying than any of them expected.

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Plot Keywords:

prosecutor | murder | police | steppe | doctor | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina

Language:

Turkish

Release Date:

23 September 2011 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Filming Locations:

Central Anatolia, Turkey

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,652 (USA) (6 January 2012)

Gross:

$138,730 (USA) (1 June 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zeynofilm, Production 2006, 1000 Volt

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Turkey's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards 2012.

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Goofs

Once the deceased body is discovered you can see the "corpse's" thumb briefly twitch.

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Connections

Featured in The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards (2013)

User Reviews

Not to be missed!!!

I watched "Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da" just a couple of hours ago and wanted to write a review immediately before the satisfaction it provides fades away. In one word, it's a marvellous film which should not be missed!

The scenery and the images are fantastic. The journey motif makes it the lives that cross one another familiar. And the acting! It totally blew my mind! It seems as if the director is really relating the story of a group of people without ever making his presence felt. It does not feel like you are watching a film at all but from the very first moment you are taken in by the film.

I want to congratulate Nuri Bilge Ceylan and all those contributors in this manner. This was his first film I've ever watched and I'll watch the rest at once without any delay. I already feel like I've lost a lot of my precious time...

Thanks a lot for this cinematographic marvel, people like you make us realise that cinema is in truth an art; one which keeps mesmerising us all...