Yumatra DVD   Drakes Avenue Pictures

First in the trilogy of films directed by Semih Kaplanoglu which follows the life of Yusuf (Nejat Isler), a successful poet with strong connections to rural Turkey. The film begins with Yusuf returning to the town of his youth for his mother's funeral. There he meets Ayla (Saadet Aksoy), his cousin, who informs him that he must perform the sacrificial ritual his mother was prevented from carrying out by her death. Initially skeptical, Yusuf gradually finds himself being drawn back into the ancient ritual and rhythmic simplicity of rural life and forms an increasingly close bond with Ayla.