CMES Film Screening: Hüseyin Tabak’s Legend of the Ugly King

In honor of International Education Week, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies is pleased to host a special film screening of Hüseyin Tabak’s Legend of the Ugly King (2018) for UT students, faculty, and staff. This screening is not open to the public.

The Legend of the Ugly King is the winner of the 2018 Best Historical Documentary award from London’s Beyond the Borders film festival. In this documentary, a young filmmaker explores the eventful life of the famous Kurdish director, actor, and revolutionary Yilmaz Güney, who achieved international attention through his films, including Yol (Winner of the Palm d’Or, 1982) and Sürü (Winner of the Golden Leopard, 1978).

They called him ‘The Ugly King’: a myth, a hero, a film legend. But who was Yılmaz Güney? A highly talented director? A revolutionary? A murderer? A genius or a lunatic? Director Hüseyin Tabak is searching for answers by conducting research for a script about the Kurdish filmmaker from Turkey. Güney was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for political reasons and for murdering a judge. He started making movies from jail. His most famous film, Yol, won the Palme d‘Or in 1982. The deeper Hüseyin digs, the more the legendary Ugly King appears human and vulnerable.

Through interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as clips from his films and rare footage of the man himself, Hüseyin Tabak explores Güney’s enduring legacy.

View the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uomI4WpCj3s. 

The Legend of the Ugly King

Director: Hüseyin Tabak

Running Time: 122 minutes

Languages: Turkish, French, German, Kurdish, Spanish (with English subtitles)