52 Films by Women Vol 2. 47. KINGS (Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven)
It is inevitable that not all films by women directors make their intended impact. They could be compromised by studio interference, budget constraints or by a director’s wrong-headedness. Kings , the second feature from Turkish-born but currently stateless writer-director Deniz Gamze Ergüven, is a victim of the latter. This is Ergüven’s passion project, inspired by her time spent in South Central Los Angeles and a profound interest in social protest. It is also her first film with genuine movie stars: Halle Berry and Daniel Craig. Not that this is any kind of recommendation. Wind back two years: Ergüven’s debut feature, Mustang , is screened to acclaim at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It has a successful opening in France, but upsets Turkish authorities, since it is about five Turkish girls and their response to being married off in the Turkish way, treated as property, not as people. The script for Mustang was co-written by Alice Winocour ( Augustine , Disorder ) appa...