Yellow Letters

Dutch premiere of the 2026 Berlinale main prize winner: A powerful portrait of love, resistance, and intellectual repression in contemporary Turkey, following two artists forced into exile within their own country after being purged for their political beliefs.

Aziz, a theater director and professor at the University of Ankara, receives the “yellow letter” informing him of his dismissal. When his wife Derya, a renowned actress, receives the same letter, it becomes the final blow for the couple. Their dismissal is the result of their political views, which have placed them under government scrutiny. Together with their daughter, they move to Istanbul to live with Aziz’s mother. Balancing this new and difficult situation with their political convictions will put their marriage to the test, exposing the intimate human cost of authoritarianism.