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This Turkish drama is a sweeping epic about a Romeo-and-Juliet-like romance set against the historical backdrop of the Istanbul riots of September 1955, when the city launched a notorious pogrom against its large Greek population. Adapted by director Tomris Giritlioglu from a novel by Yilmaz Karakoyu, the tragic story centers around Turkish nationalist Behcet (Murat Yildirim), who finds his extremist views tested when he falls in love with a Greek prostitute named Elena (Beren Saat).