Kuma (film)


Kuma is a 2012 Austrian film directed by Umut Dag about a Turkish immigrant family living in Vienna.Fatma is around 50, a housewife with six children. She lives in Vienna but grew up in Turkey and clings stubbornly to the traditions and values of the old country. Ayse is 19, and the film begins with her wedding in rural Turkey, to Fatma’s son Hasan. However, when the family takes Ayse to Vienna this is revealed as a c harade… for Ayse is to be the kuma of Fatma’s husband Mustafa.Ayse, a beautiful 19-year-old girl from the Turkish countryside, is chosen to be married to the Hasan, son of formidable and house proud mother Fatma, who resides in Vienna with her husband and children.
However, what soon becomes apparent is that Ayse is to be the second wife to Fatma’s husband. This tight-knit family goes to great lengths to preserve traditional values, and although polygamy is illegal in Austria, Ayse is welcomed. Yet, her presence in a country whose language and culture are entirely foreign to her immediately marks her as an outsider. As Western societal norms and Muslim religious beliefs draw closer together in an ever-diversifying family unit, tensions arise, resulting in an explosive stroke of fate. Umut Dag’s mature feature debut is a rich tapestry of swirling emotions, suppressed desires, unspoken words and uncomfortable yet pressing social and political questions

Cast

Kuma has won several international awards including the Special Audience Prize at the 2012 Lecce Festival of European Cinema and the Golden Starfish Award at the 2012 Hamptons International Film Festival. At the 2012 Philadelphia Film Festival Begüm Akkaya won Honorable Mention in the category of Best Actress. The film was nominated for Best Debut Film at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.
Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw rated the film three stars out of five, and described it as "strongly and honestly acted", with "a strong hint of soapy melodrama". In a review for The Telegraph, Tim Robey awarded Kuma the same rating and described it as a "vigorous and engrossing debut".