Lia, a retired teacher, sets out to find her long-lost niece, Tekla, accompanied by Achi, a young adult seeking a better future. Their journey leads them to Istanbul, where they encounter the lawyer Evrim.
Blue.
Before the first frame appeared across the screen, after the credits, that was the thought in my head. This film will include a lot of blue.
And to no surprise, the title of the film – its first frame is white font on a blue textured background. Then, another shot follows: water… just clear water.
This is the beginning of a tale that will fill your heart with joy, sorrow, laughter, kindness, and most importantly humanity.
Lia, a retired history teacher, is on a search for her niece. Tekla. The girl her family cast out, the girl she hasn’t seen in years, the girl who is more rumour than reality by now. Beside her is Achi, a restless young man who wants nothing more than to break free from the small life handed to him. Their pairing feels awkward at first, age, temperament, silence clashing, but it’s exactly in that odd mismatch that the film finds its rhythm.
The journey takes them across borders, into Istanbul, a city that swallows and spits, that shimmers with possibility and menace in the same breath. And in this sprawling maze they meet Evrim, a lawyer whose presence bends the whole story toward something more tender, more political and more human than a simple “journey.”
Every step of the way, the film keeps folding layers: family shame, generational guilt and the stubborn tenderness that somehow survives both. There are laughs too, clumsy moments of warmth, pockets of unexpected kindness. And then there are the silences, the things left unsaid that weigh heavier than any dialogue could.
Embrace this heart break. Blue hangs all over it.
Not just the sea, not just the scenery. A blue that slips between sorrow and grace, the shade of every crossing we make.
11
Raw Eleven 
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