Patrick Blossier

The Legend of the Ugly King

Director Hüseyin Tabak explores the legacy of Yilmaz Güney — political dissident, convicted murderer, and visionary Kurdish filmmaker — who directed the 1982 Palme d'Or–winning Yol from inside prison and died in exile just two years later.

Ballad of Exiles: Yılmaz Güney

Having spent ten years of his life in prisons, Güney escaped from Isparta Semi-Open Prison in 1981 and went to Paris, where he would spend the last years of his life. The recognition Güney received as a filmmaker in France brought him the Palme D'or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival for his film "The Road." The documentary builds a bridge between France and Turkey through Yılmaz Güney, tracing his footsteps in Paris, the filming process of "The Wall," the lives he influenced through his political struggle and cinema, and the stories of those who were forced to leave their country after September 12th, who came to France as immigrants, his friends and colleagues, and the life stories of exiled people whose paths somehow intersected with his during this journey.