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31st BOSTON TURKISH ARTS & CULTURE FESTIVAL

NIGHT OF BLINDNESS

Kör Gece

Written and Directed by REİS ÇELİK


night of blindness


90 min. / b&w / 2026 / with English subtitles

Cast: Hacı Ali Konuk, Özge Arslan, Nilüfer Açıkalın, İştar Gökseven, Aydın Orak


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SELECTED FESTIVALS AND AWARDS


  • Shanghai Film Festival, China (2026): Best Screenplay


SYNOPSIS


Inspired by the director’s own real-life experiences, Night of Blindness is set in Türkiye in the aftermath of the September 12, 1980 military coup. The film is the second installment of the planned “Night Trilogy.” The first film, Night of Silence (2012), received the Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and was screened at numerous prestigious international festivals, including the Boston Turkish Film Festival, and winning multiple awards.


A wanted activist hides inside the wooden formwork of a concrete column at a construction site. Only a thin plank separates the hunted from the hunters. As soldiers search the site without success, the arrival of a concrete mixer threatens to bury her alive. In the face of certain death, a small and silent act of courage may become her only chance for survival.

"Through its sharp and sensitive narrative, the film allows us to feel the massive impact created by small, courageous acts." — Official Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) Jury Citation (Chaired by Tony Leung), Best Screenplay Award

Reis Celik

REİS ÇELİK

Director, Writer


Reis Çelik (Ardahan, 1961) moved to Istanbul after junior high school and studied music and theater at the State Conservatoire. In 1982 he began a career in journalism, working as an economics/political correspondent for various national newspapers. In the following years, both his interviews and photographs appeared in several international newspapers and magazines.  Around the same time, he began making documentary films, commercial and political campaign films, as well as maintaining an active interest in still photography. To date Çelik's photographic work has been featured in exhibitions in over 12 countries.


In 1996 he directed his debut feature, ‘Işıklar Sönmesin’ (“Let There Be Light”), a humanitarian take on the Kurdish conflict in southeast Turkey, which won several awards on the international festival circuit. He followed this with another feature ‘Hoşçakal Yarın’ (‘Goodbye Tomorrow’) in 1998, which focuses on a key figure of the Turkish students’ movement who was executed in the early 1970s. He made his third film ‘İnat Hikayeleri’ (‘Tales of Intransigence’), all improvised feature, in 2004. Fallowing ‘Mülteci’ (“Refugee”) in 2008, ‘Lal Gece’ (“Night Of Silence”) in 2012 was followed by ‘Food For A Funeral’ (2019) , and Night Of Blindness (2026). 


Reis Çelik was presented with the Boston Turkish Film Festival Excellence in Turkish Cinema Award in 2014.


Reis Çelik’s previous films screened at the Boston Turkish Film Festival:

  • Refugee (Mülteci) – 8th Boston Turkish Film Festival (2009)
  • Night of Silence (Lal Gece) – 11th Boston Turkish Film Festival (2012)
  • Against All Odds (İnadına Film Çekmek) – 13th Boston Turkish Film Festival (2014)
  • Tales of Intransigence (İnat Hikayeleri) – 13th Boston Turkish Film Festival (2014)
  • Food for a Funeral (Ölü Ekmeği) – 20th Boston Turkish Film Festival (2021)

WATCH TRAILER