BUTTERFLIES
A motley trio of siblings is reconnected after an unexpected phone call from their estranged father prompts them to return to their hometown to fulfill a surprising last request.
At the start of BUTTERFLIES, expat Turkish astronaut Cemal (Tolga Tekin) upends a TV interview by declaring an astronaut strike and sets his spacesuit on fire. It’s a fittingly strange beginning to this impossible-to-classify film, which finds an unexpected balance between absurdity and touching sincerity. After receiving a surprising phone call from his father, Cemal must convince his two younger siblings to return home for the first time in 30 years to fulfill their mutually disliked father’s dying wish. Cemal’s sister Suzi (Tugce Altug), a weathered teacher in a collapsing marriage, eagerly joins out of sheer desire to get away from her dimwitted husband. Their jaded brother Kenan (Bartu Küçükçaglayan), a voiceover actor who dubs comical cat videos, is less willing to participate but begrudgingly agrees. Their dysfunctional road trip is filled with drunken brawls, a homemade spacesuit, spontaneously combusting poultry, and sober reflections on their troubling shared past. Directed by Tolga Karaçelik, BUTTERFLIES is a poignant, often hilarious film about siblings attempting to pick up the pieces of their broken family.
CAST: Tugce Altug, Bartu Küçükçaglay, Tolga Tekin
All sales are final. Admission is not guaranteed after scheduled start time.
CLICK HERE to return to the 27th Philadelphia Film Festival schedule.