When your actions carry far-reaching consequences, every word matters. 40-year-old Sabiha calls herself Arzu when she is on the line at the Ankara erotic call center where she works. On the evening after the devastating 1999 Istanbul earthquake, a teenager trapped beneath rubble calls, pleading for help. Moved, Arzu makes a decision that quietly entangles her in a web of political consequences. Directed by Çağla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti, and featuring a striking performance by Saadet Işıl Aksoy, this tense drama premiered in Berlinale’s Panorama section to strong acclaim. Intimate and emotionally charged, the film uses silence, stillness, and Aksoy’s expressive face to examine fear, hypocrisy, and the weight of connection. Confidante invites us to question the borders of empathy, power, and choice when one voice reaches through the darkness, and another chooses to answer. A haunting, human film that stays with you. —João Federici
Çağla Zencirci & Guillaume Giovanetti
A Turkish-French couple, Çağla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti have been co-directing films and life since 2004. Their feature films includeNoor(2012), the winner of a Special Mention at the Milan International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the Grand Prize at Chéries-Chéris; Ningen (2013); and Sibel (2018), the winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Locarno Film Festival.
ÇAĞLA ZENCIRI: Writer/Director
GUILLAUME GIOVANETTI: Writer/Director