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HUDUTLARIN KANUNU/ THE LAW OF THE BORDER<br />
On the surface, Hudutların Kanunu (The Law of the Border), is an action-packed, exciting smuggling drama with a powerful central<br />
performance by Yılmaz Güney. Yet beyond the genre elements lay a searing critique of social conditions on southeastern Turkey,<br />
where lack of education, joblessness <strong>and</strong> just general hopelessness has left the population little choice but to become outlaws in<br />
order to survive. The experience of the film proved important for Güney, just as he was about to embark on his own brilliant<br />
directorial career. Hudutların Kanunu (The Law of the Border) was rescued <strong>and</strong> restored by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema<br />
Foundation; brought to light by WCF advisory board member Fatih Akın <strong>and</strong> restored by L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna<br />
from the wreckage of a single positive print which survived the Turkish military coup d’état in 1980. The film was described as “...a<br />
work of great visual <strong>and</strong> dramatic force, of terrific purity <strong>and</strong> ferocity,’’ by Kent Jones, Executive Director of the WCF.<br />
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS<br />
1967 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (Turkey): Best Actor (Yılmaz Güney); Second Best Dramatic Film<br />
LÜTFi Ö. AKAD<br />
Born in Istanbul in 1916, Lütfi Ö. Akad attended Galatasaray High School before graduating from Istanbul<br />
University with a degree in Economics <strong>and</strong> Business. Akad’s entry to the film world came as a financial<br />
consultant for the production company Sema Film. He made his directorial debut with the film Damga<br />
(The Mark), resuming a project that had been discontinued by director Seyfi Havaeri. Akad’s first film<br />
was Vurun Kahpeye (Strike the Whore), an adaptation of Turkish author Halide Edip Adıvar’s eponymous<br />
novel. Akad continued to create films of diverse genres through the Fifties, Sixties, <strong>and</strong> Seventies. His<br />
1966 film, Hudutların Kanunu (The Law of the Border)— which he wrote together with Yılmaz Güney— is<br />
widely considered to be the turning point of his career, when he shifted from the escapist films<br />
characteristic of the earlier part of the decade to more socially conscious fair. The Seventies trilogy:<br />
Gelin (The Bride), Düğün (The Wedding) <strong>and</strong> Diyet (The Sacrifice) is considered his masterpiece. In<br />
addition to his film career, Akad lectured at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts for over twenty years. He<br />
died in 2011 having directed over forty films.<br />
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY<br />
1948 Vurun Kahpeye / Strike the Whore<br />
1950 Lüküs Hayat / The Luxurious Life<br />
1952 Kanun Namına / In the Name of Law<br />
1959 Yalnızlar Rıhtımı / The Lonely Ones’ Quay<br />
1966 Hudutlarin Kanunu / The Law of the Border<br />
1967 Kızılırmak Karakoyun / Red River, Black Sheep<br />
1968 Vesikalı Yarim<br />
1971 Bir Teselli Ver<br />
1973 Gelin / The Bride<br />
1974 Düğün / The Wedding<br />
1975 Diyet / The Sacrifice<br />
HUDUTLARIN KANUNU/THE LAW OF THE BORDER 10
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