Leylak (film)

Leylak is a 2021 short drama film directed by Scott Aharoni and Dennis Latos and starring Nadir Sarıbacak. The film was written by Mustafa Kaymak. Leylak was shot and edited during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the film is set.

The film held its world premiere at the 20th Annual Tribeca Film Festival on June 12, 2021, where it won Special Jury Mention in the Best Narrative Short category.

Cast

 * Nadir Sarıbacak as Yusuf Çelik
 * Isabella Haddock as Renk Çelik
 * Gamze Ceylan as Tulay Çelik
 * Samrat Chakrabarti as Abdul
 * Tony Naumovski as Markus
 * Ibrahim Traore as Ibrahim
 * Max Schuster as Cemetery Worker
 * Mark Lyons as Cemetery Worker
 * Onur Usluca as The Digger
 * Louis Pearlman as The Digger
 * Joseph Fernandez as The Digger

Development and pre-production
During 2020, Aharoni & Latos reached out to Kaymak to conceptualize the film's story, using the emotional and mental impact of the pandemic on society, particularly in its setting of New York City, as the basis. The film is told within a 24 hour period, done to heighten the tension of the plot and intensify the situation the characters face in the midst of the pandemic. Aharoni further explained this, by saying: "We didn’t want the film to remain relevant for this year, or the next, but for many years to come – to remind us all that through grief and hardship, there will always be light at the end of the tunnel."

Filming
Principal photography took place throughout August 2020. Laura Valladao, known for her work on Kevin Wilson Jr.'s Academy Award-nominated short film My Nephew Emmett, served as cinematographer.

Release
The film had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 12, 2021.