The Ugly King

He was called the Ugly King: a myth, a hero, a film legend. But who was Yılmaz Güney? Most certainly a highly talented director. But also a revolutionary or a murderer? A genius or a madman? Director Hüseyin Tabak is in search of answers. The highlight of Güney's career was certainly his award of the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 1982, and YOL is still his best-known film. The starting point of Hüseyin Tabak's research is a book about the Kurdish filmmaker from Turkey. Soon he also encounters the first cracks and turning points in this biography: for example, Güney was sentenced to a prison term of more than 100 years, officially for the murder of a judge, but political reasons are obvious. Legendary and probably unique in film history is that Güney was still making films even from prison. Among other things, Tabak explores the question of how this is possible. He visits Güney's family, his actors, and former fellow prisoners scattered around the world. But renowned filmmakers like Michael Haneke and Costa Gavras also have their say. He interviews people on the street who still consider Güney a hero. The deeper Hüseyin digs into the history of the legendary ugly king, the more human and vulnerable he seems.