Turkish film ‘Miracle In Cell No. 7’ team planning to make Turkey’s Oscar entry

Turkish film Miracle in Cell No. 7 was a major box office hit in its homeland last year. The film received immense praise and positive response worldwide after making its release on streaming platform Netflix.

After a huge success, Turkey’s International Feature Oscar entry has selected the film to make its official entry in the Oscars.

Director Mehmet Ada Oztekin’s emotional drama is a remake of the 2013 Korean film of the same name, tells the story revolves around the prison inmates and life of Memo (Turkish star Aras Bulut Iynemli), a mentally impaired father, and his 7-year-old daughter, Ova, who live in an Aegean town under martial law in 1983.

Due to tragic circumstances, Memo has been wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of a child, he and Ova try to reunite with each other.

As Deadline reported, Oztekin talked during the film’s panel discussion at Deadline’s Virtual Screening Series about how his film diverges from the original, which was more of a comedy. “There were a number of gray areas in the original,” he said. “I wanted to keep the main themes, clarify the gray areas, but make this more of a universal story.”

Iynemli, who lost 10 kilos (22 lbs.) while researching and preparing for the role, told us about how he was impressed by his character’s paternal instincts, saying, “This story reminded us about some of the values we have forgotten.”