ACROSS THE SEA
Written and Directed by Esra Saydam and Nisan Dag
Produced by Esra Saydam, Gerry Kim, Robert Lavenstein and Alvaro Valente
Director of Photography J.P. Wakayama Carey
Having left her home in Turkey, Damla moved to New York to study and pursue a career in business. She hasn’t returned home for the past eight years and recently married an American by the name of Kevin Brady, a lawyer that is equally hardworking and ambitious. Damla is now six months pregnant, but she continues to be haunted by a secret that has prevented her from enjoying her seemingly perfect life in America. When she discovers that her childhood home is being sold, Damla hesitates to return back to Turkey in fear of directly confronting her past, but it is Kevin who convinces her to take one last trip before the baby is born. Damla and Kevin arrive at the Karaca residence, an idyllic sleepy summer town located across from Greece, bordering the Aegean Sea. There, Damla is reintroduced to her family and her first love, Burak, whose presence questions the comfortable American life she has worked so hard to achieve.
2015 Slamdance Film Festival
WINNER Audience Award
2014 Adana Film Festival
WINNER Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Music
2014 Warsaw Film Festival
2014 Raindance Film Festival