French-Turkish film 'Mustang' hits theaters

Deniz Gamze Ergüven's 'Mustang,' an award-winning coming-of-age tale with strong female characters, was released on Oct 23 in Turkish theatersAlready seen by close to half a million people in France, Deniz Gamze Ergüven's eagerly anticipated debut film, "Mustang," premiered in Turkey on Oct. 23 following high praise on the festival circuit.

The Turkish-French film director was at Istanbul's Beyo?lu Theater on Oct. 21 for a screening of the film, which premiered in the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight section and won the Europe Cinemas Label Award.

Deniz Gamze Ergüven

"Mustang" portrays five teenage girls who live in a conservative household in northern Turkey.

"I do not want to define [my film] in any political structure, but feminism aims for the equality for women, so there [is feminism] in the film," said Ergüven.

"You don't see brave, strong female characters in cinema," she said. "We look to the world through men's eyes in the history of cinema."

A group of around 300 people, including the cast's relatives, watched the film, which had already been seen by more than 450,000 people, in France alone, according to the film's PR company.

France has submitted "Mustang," a joint French-German-Turkish production, for an Oscar nomination in the foreign-language category this year.      

"Mustang" hit Turkish theaters on Oct. 23 while it will be shown in the United States on Nov. 20.

The 36-year-old director studied history-literature and African history before graduating from one of France's most prestigious film schools, the Femis, of which film masters such as the Greek-French Costa Gavras and Greece's Theo Angelopoulos are also alumni.      

The Ankara-born...