Bac Films Nabs Serhat Karaaslan’s Turkish Drama ‘Passed by Censor’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Bac Films has boarded Turkish director Serhat Karaaslan’s feature debut, “Passed by Censor,” a politically minded film shot in Istanbul.

Produced by Turkey’s +90 Film Production, Germany’s Departures Film and France’s Silex Films, “Passed by Censor” revolves around 30-year-old Zakir, a worker at an Istanbul prison whose job is to censor sensitive parts of letters that inmates receive and send. His routine takes an unexpected turn after he becomes infatuated with the wife of one of the inmates and decides to discover more about her life with the help of a young woman he meets while attending a creative writing class. The movie stars Berkay Ates (“Frenzy”), Ipek Türktan (“The Impeccables”) and Saadet Aksoy (“Eastern Plays”).

An up-and-coming Turkish helmer, Karaaslan previously directed the shorts “Musa,” which played at Locarno, and “Ice Cream,” which played at Toronto.

Now in post-production, “Passed by Censor” was developed at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation residence, Berlinale Talents, the Jerusalem International Film Lab and the Locarno Filmmakers Academy.

Bac Films will release “Passed by Censor” in France, on top of handling international sales. Bir Film will distribute the movie in Turkey, while Farbfilm Verleih will release it in Germany. The film is expected to be delivered in the spring.

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