Across the Sea
Slamdance Film Festival
Directors: Esra Saydam, Nisan Dag

Pregnant and lonesome, expat Damla (Damla Sönmez) reluctantly returns to her coastal Aegean hometown at the behest of her husband Kevin (Jacob Fishel) in the Turkish romantic drama, Across the Sea. While the All-American Kevin is eager to learn about Damla’s roots, she is just as eager to avoid them, and when local fisher Burak reappears in her life, tensions begin to arise as her old life catches up to her new one. With the picturesque town of Ayvalık on the beautiful Aegean Coast as the film’s backdrop, Damla navigates the memories of her taciturn hometown by the sea. When Kevin decides to stay for good, the hesitant yet complacent Damla is confronted with co-habitating the same sleepy village as Burak, her childhood friend and lover. Overwhelmed by the life she left behind, Damla has to again make the decision to either stay behind or continue building her life in the States with Kevin. Beautifully executed by co-writers and directors Esra Saydam and Nisan Dag, Across the Sea is a timeless, universal tale of love and longing. –Christian Schultz