TURKISH Film "Mustang" Musters Top Prize at Sarajevo Film Festival

The Turkish film "Mustang" is no joy ride.  It is a contemporary film based on a real family of 5 sisters living in N. Turkey who are sexually abused by their uncle, imprisoned within the home & forced into arranged marriages at early ages.  This is a difficult and uncomfortable depiction of female oppression that persists today.  The tight-knit sisters are young school girls whose offense is frolicking with boys.  Their behaviors are deemed so anathema to social norms they're forced to be examined by a doctor to verify their virginity to clarify them suitable for marriage.  The liberties taken for granted by the majority of women are not granted equally around the globe.  The gossip of their playful contact with boys brings the wrath of both their grandmother & their uncle.  They have been raising the orphaned sisters for the past 10 years.  The girl's are beaten, banished from school and forced into early and unwanted marriages.  The "righteous & virtuous" uncle does not condemn his raping his own nieces.  Still, there are commendable aspects to this debut film from Turkish/French dir. Deniz Erguven.  Foremost is the loving bond amongst the sisters. The film also captures the stirrings of sexual awakenings.  And, despite the dreadful & oppressive lives these young women face, the 2 youngest sisters demonstrate courage & resourcefulness indicative of a changing world with better opportunities for females.  I strongly recommend the S. Arabian film "Wadjda" to "Mustang" and both are more impactful than the Ethiopian film "Difret."  But, I commend all these films for addressing women's inequality and persecution.