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San Sebastian Title ‘Between Two Dawns’ Confirms Distribution in France, Spain, Releases Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

Selected last week for San Sebastian’s New Directors strand, the festival’s main sidebar, Turkish director Salman Nacar’s “Between Two Dawns” has confirmed distributors for France and Spain.

Sales agent Luxbox has also released a first trailer and poster for the film, both of which Variety obtained exclusively.

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In France, the film’s release will be handled by Paris-based Condor Distribution, which opened Joanna Hogg’s “Souvenir” and Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow” earlier this year. “Between Two Dawns” will be distributed in Spain by Bteam Pictures, one of the country’s top independent distributors which recently bowed Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round” and Fernando Trueba’s 2020 Cannes Label title “My Father.”

The film is Nacar’s debut feature and is described as a compelling ethical thriller in which Kadir, the youngest son of a textile factory owner, is thrown into a huge moral quandary after a workplace steamer accident at the plant. This leaves a worker, Mahmut Serpil, being rushed to hospital.

Planning to marry Esma, his girlfriend, as the severity of the injury and his family’s guilt become clearer, Kadir is forced to choose between his family or his relationship with Esma and compensation for the injured worker’s wife.

Shot by Romanian DP Tudor Panduru and written by Nacar, “Between Two Dawns” takes place over less than 24 hours. The film also works as an unsettling portrait of contemporary Turkey, its key textile industry facing cut-price global competition, and its moral structure with the protection of family honor at the centre.

“People say it’s fate or kismet, but people also have free will, right,” Esma’s father asks Kadir in the trailer, as he is introduced to Esma’s family.

Director Nacar has said he was interested in the concepts of crime, justice and morality from his days as a law student. “I wanted to portray those moments during which a character has to face a moral struggle, trapped between conscience, family, and dreams,” he added.

“Between Two Dawns” is produced by Turkey’s Kuyu Film, Fol Film and Karma Films with Arizona Productions (France) Libra Films Productions (Romania) and Spain’s Nephilim Producciones, and supported by Turkish broadcaster TRT. Luxbox is handling international sales.

A rough cut of the film won San Sebastian’s WIP Europa Industry Award when it played last September. Take a look at the poster below:

“Between Two Dawns” - Credit: Credit: Luxbox
“Between Two Dawns” - Credit: Credit: Luxbox

Credit: Luxbox

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