‘Winter Sleep’ becomes Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s most-watched movie

Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest film “Kış Uykusu” (Winter Sleep), which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on May 24 and was released in Turkish movie theaters on June 13, drew over 237,000 viewers in its first month, becoming Ceylan’s most-watched film, according to the Turkish Box Office.

Starring Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen and Demet Akbağ, Ceylan’s seventh feature film, “Winter Sleep,” is the second Turkish film to win the prestigious Palme d’Or prize. The film is a drama telling the story of a family running a hotel in Central Anatolia.

The film was watched by 43,495 people in the first week ahead of its release, earning 536,890 Turkish Liras from the box office. Within a month, it had brought in 2,728,886 liras with 237,260 viewers.

Turkish professor Orhan Kural recently filed a complaint against Ceylan in France for alleged animal cruelty during the shooting of the film, claiming that one of the horses seen in the film was “tortured” in one of the scenes. The Law for the Protection of Animals in Turkey stipulates various fines for those who commit animal cruelty. A draft code that was submitted to the Turkish Parliament this month demands jail time for those who abuse animals.