Late at night in a small Turkish town, a young couple tries to find a hotel room to spend the night together. They are rejected from all hotels for not having a marriage certificate. Once they believe they’ve found a trick to use, the situation gets out of hand. Original Title Les Criminels Year of production 2021 Length 24 min Country France, Romania, Turkey Shooting Format RAW Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Dialogue Turkish Director Serhat Karaaslan Producer Laure Dahout Production Tiresias Films Co-Producer Laura Musat Writer Serhat Karaaslan Cinematographer Tudor Mircea Editor Nathan Delannoy Art Director Meral Aktan Sound Utku Insel, Marius Leftãrache, Charli Masson, Samy Bardet Original Music Charli Circus CastDeniz Altan, Lorin Merhart, Erdem Senocak, Ercan Kesal, Cem Baza
Director's Statement I have always found that hotel rooms lend themselves to cinematography. They provoke curiosity as well as the imagination. One cannot help but wonder what could have happened in them. They are places of intimacy and, by definition, a limit that society, in principle, has no right to cross. However, the whole aim of an authoritarian regime is to control even this last space of individual freedom. The Criminals is a social realist drama combined with the elements of the thriller film and within its heart the desire and the question of intimacy. Nazli and Emre are a young, modern couple that love each other and seek to enjoy themselves. Sexuality is not a taboo for them. They freely and joyfully desire each other. Their only obstacle is others. I do believe the film has potential to spark discussion about the historical shifts that the country is facing by following this story of two young lovers’ exploration of their sexuality and their willingness to freely enjoy their privacy. We intend to question what it is like to grow up and live in today's Turkey as a young person. The Criminals gives a glimpse into how an entire country is being turned into a gigantic prison, a society where everyone is being watched and controlled. I would like to make the audience feel the intense atmosphere of this specific time that we are going through. What could be better to generate this mood than a hotel, a place where intimacy and collective life intertwine?
