Autumn

A man struggles to come to terms with a misspent past and an uncertain future in this drama. Yusuf (Onur Saylak) is a Turkish political activist whose work with a group of revolutionaries earned him a long stay in prison. Yusuf is released after ten years when he's diagnosed with a severe respiratory illness, and returns home to the small town near the Black Sea where his mother lives. Yusuf's homecoming gets off to a rocky start when his dog doesn't recognize him, and while his mother is happy he's back, she can't offer him the emotional and spiritual comfort he needs after a decade in jail. Mikail (Serkan Keskin), a close friend of Yusuf from their school days, decides his old pal needs a vacation, and they head to Rize, a resort town by the sea shore. Mikail rents a couple of rooms at a cheap motel and rounds up a pair of hookers to entertain them, Eka (Megi Kobaladze) and Maria (Nino Lejava). Yusuf isn't in the mood for cheap sex and refuses to spend the night with Eka, but as they get to know one another, the two begin to bond and Yusuf finds a kindred spirit in a woman whose life has taken her places she never wanted to go. Sonbahar (aka Autumn) was the first feature film from writer and director Ozcan Alper.