Not only does Nuri Bilge Ceylan write and direct his films, he also photographs and edits them. Their composition, pace and lack of overt narrative have elicited comparison to auteurs such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni. In Distant, Ceylan builds a series of insignificant events into a devastating portrait of alienation. It begins as Yusuf leaves his village for Istanbul. He dreams of working on a boat and seeing the world. He imposes on his distant cousin Mahmut, a divorced photographer, for a place to stay. But Mahmut′s apartment is small and he is obsessively set in his ways. Yusuf′s arrival disrupts his solitude and routine. Mahmut is further shattered to learn that his ex-wife is immigrating to Canada. This exquisitely observed study of loneliness and frustration captured numerous prizes at the Istanbul Film Festival, and was rewarded at Cannes with the Grand Jury Prize, as well as the Best Actor trophy for its two leads. Sadly, the actor portraying Yusuf died in a car accident shortly after receiving an acting prize at the Turkish Film Awards.