By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Ferit Karahan
Starring: Demet Özdemir | Helin Kandemir | Ilhan Sen | Kaan Yildirim | Sarp Bozkurt
Original language title: Cinlerin Dügünü
Year: 2026
Running time: 132
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt42761198/
Michael says: “Ferit Karahan’s sixth feature film, DJINN WEDDING, is a sweeping, angry tale about a family cursed after moving into a house that was taken from the previous owners. Told in three chapters, the first focuses on the family when the four siblings, three boys and a girl, are young, perhaps six to eleven or twelve. This scenes sets the tone of the film, shows the family struggling to get by, robs them of their mother, and kicks off the cycle of grief. Chapter two sees the estranged siblings coming back together for the wedding of the sole daughter. Secrets and tensions abide, and the least joyous wedding I have ever seen depicted on screen results in a terrible wedding night for the bride, groom and their immediate families. In chapter three, things just get worse, and everything basically comes apart.
“I can’t say I didn’t like Karahan’s film, but it was pretty hard to like as well. The characters were so angry or depressed it was a difficult 132 minutes. The moments of magical realism were welcome and mysterious, and the tradition of women eating chips of dried mud as an act of rebellion were both surprising and beautiful in their way. Not sure the time frame, but one thing is for sure, if you live in the villages near Anatolia, you really need a car to get around. 3 cats
“Screened at TIFF Lightbox, Wednesday 9/16, writer/director and cast in attendance”