The Breath (2009)

Breath (Turkish: Nefes: Vatan Sağolsun, literally Breath: Long Live the Homeland) is a 2009 Turkish drama film directed by Levent Semerci. The film, which tells the story of 40 soldiers in charge of protecting a relay station near the Iraqi border in southeastern Turkey, was adapted from the short stories Tales from the Southeast and Ground Minus Zero by Hakan Evrensel and is, according to Hürriyet Daily News reviewer Emine Yıldırım, the first Turkish film that tackles, through an authentic perspective and convincing realness, the contemporary situation of the Turkish army and its long battle with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) .

The film, according to Today's Zaman, sparked a growing discussion on whether it includes militaristic and nationalist elements or whether it is merely aiming to show the deadly and difficult conditions soldiers face in the vast mountainous terrain of southeastern Anatolia, fighting against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants. Critics such as columnists Emre Aköz and Nedim Hazar pointed out that writer Hakan Evrensel, upon whose works the film was based, had worked at the public relations department of the National Security Council (MGK) when the terrorist activities were at their peak and claimed the film fails to be impartial and objective in indicating the genuine motives of the terrorists fighting in the mountains.

The film went on general release across Turkey on October 16, 2009 (2009-10-16) and won two awards at the 3rd Yeşilçam Awards as well as being one of the highest grossing films of 2009, prompting its re-release on July 23, 2010 (2010-07-23).

Synopsis

This film is about a small unit of 40 Turkish soldiers in a remote patrol station in eastern Turkey, in a state of near certain death, during the most violent times, in the conflict between the Turkish Army and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).