i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Charming and brutal

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

ZENNE's real thrust is suggested by an epigraph at the beginning of the film from the thirteenth century mystic Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī attesting to the power of the dance to unify people regardless of age, race or sexuality.Can (Kerem Can) is a dancer at a gay club, whose act quite literally consumes him so that he can forget his troubles outside. They are numerous; not only is he expected to do his military service, but he has to cope with the trauma of losing his father in battle and his brother Cihan (Tolga Tekin) suffering mental disturbance as a result of his army experiences. Can's close friend Ahmet (Erkan Avcı) enjoys the freedom of İstanbul to give full rein to his sexuality, but is shackled by his family living in Urfa in the east of Turkey who expect him to return home and marry a nice girl. In particular his mother Kezban (Rüçhan Çaliskur) has a malign influence over him, even having him shadowed while living in İstanbul.ZENNE looks at the dead hand of tradition, which prevents Can and Ahmet from fulfilling their potential both professionally as well as sexually. They are expected to follow well-trodden paths, even if they are manifestly unsuited for that purpose. The co-directors M. Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay emphasize how restricted their opportunities actually are, despite their apparently free gay sexualities. In the end they have to toe the family or the national line, otherwise they face grave consequences.Yet ZENNE introduces one further dimension to the story in the person of Daniel Bert (Giovanni Arvaneh), a German photographer domiciled in İstanbul who is trying to come to terms with his own personal trauma experienced in Afghanistan. As a photographer he takes a scopophilic interest in Can's lifestyle - so much so that he wants to photograph the dancer. Yet by doing so he is trying to assume power without responsibility; to "capture" the Turkish dancer in the photographic frame without understanding in the least the constraints that inhibit Can's behavior. The same also holds true for Daniel's relationship with Ahmet; the German naively thinks that Ahmet can escape his family duties by emigrating to Germany.In the end none of the three protagonists achieve their ambitions - the victims of an often indifferent world that refuses to acknowledge difference and inhibits understanding. Nonetheless there remains the power of the dance, which has the power to join disparate souls together, even if only for a short time.Brilliantly photographed, combining colorful dream-sequences with an acute sense of İstanbul's less salubrious areas, ZENNE deserves to be regarded as a classic of contemporary Turkish cinema.

What a gem of a movie. It touches you on so many points. Obviously, a majority of the film is about the internal storms of gays living in a society as intolerant as Turkey has become. The hypocrisy is, however, how open the Turkish Society was to gay inclinations and even encouraged them until one hundred years ago. Zenne (or Kocek) is a very old Turkish word and they were male dancers accompanying the acrobats during celebrations.But the movie does not go into those details anyway. Actually, I don't even classify Zenne as a gay movie. It's a very human movie. Has a rather slow rhythm, considering the genre, but builds up progressively and you just can not help but feel with the characters. Their turmoils, their emotions, their struggles and their passion.And then there is the music, and the photography. In a way everything about this movie somehow fits together. Well done team for a really good movie. Well spent two hours.

I had the opportunity of seeing the film during the film festival in Antalya which is equivalent of Turkish Oscars and liked it a lot.Not only me but an audience of almost 1200 people stood up and were applauding during the entire ending, in tears, which was even more shocking to see in a film festival... The applause was not only for a brilliant movie of course but mostly to a long term-suffered in silence-society who had to say to the Turkish Military 'ENOUGH'! All Turkish men are required to perform military service. But gay men can be exempted from conscript duty provided they first prove their homosexuality."Zenne" depicts the degrading process its main characters endure at an army recruiting center.In the film, military doctors perform anal examinations and hurl homophobic insults at conscripts. They also demand photos of the characters having sex with other men.Gay rights activists say the military has long demanded graphic photo and/or video evidence from men asking to be released from military duty.Zenne Dancer moved Turkish media and about a 100,000 watchers from homophobia to a moving apology.As a groundbreaking film launched, Turkish attitudes to gay and trans-gender people have slowly started improving – in the media at least Zenne Dancer, finally hit the screens, nationwide cinemas, after winning five major awards at the country's foremost film festival, and receiving a shower of attention from the mass media – a shower that unfortunately quickly turned cold.In daily parlance the word ZENNE refers to a man who dresses up like a woman and dances in front of an audience, a custom that goes way back to early Ottoman empire. The film itself is inspired by a true story, that of Ahmet Yildiz, a student who was gunned down by his own father for being openly and unrepentantly homosexual. His was not the first hate crime in Turkey, nor the first gay Honor killing, but probably the first to draw such widespread attention. The film and the subsequent media coverage played an important role in increasing awareness about the hardships trans-gender and gay communities endure in Turkey's patriarchal society.I suggest to everyone to sit and enjoy how a modern and secular country like Turkey's LGBT people live and try to exist in life with breath taking cinematography and acting. ERKAN AVCI and TILBE SARAN are incredible with KEREM CAN like a Greek Statue, as a portrait of a flamboyant traditional dancer.

Zenne, M.Caner Alper and Mehmat Binay's debut movie was crowned with five awards at the country's foremost film festival Golden Orange Festival in Antalia, Turkey: •SIYAD Best Film (Association of Turkish Filmmakers) •Best First Film •Best Cinematography •Best Support Female Actor •Best Support Male Actor Zenne is inspired by the true story of Ahmet Yildiz, known as a victim of the first Turkish gay honor murder. The fact that Yildiz was killed by his own father, who hasn't been brought to trial since then, is shocking enough to make this movie very interesting. According to the trailer, movie tells the story of "an unlikely trio". In the first part of the film you are being introduced to those three "friends": Can – a free-minded person who is trying to avoid military service (which is obligatory in Turkey) and dances in nightclub as Zenne (the word in colloquial Turkish means male belly dancer) Daniel – German photographer trying to run away from his own troubled past Ahmet – An university student in Istanbul, born and raised in very traditional family in South-Eastern Turkey As their friendship develops, viewer is slowly but surely drawn into turbulent story of homophobia in Turkey, which culminates with the recruiting procedures for homosexuals in Turkish Army. Acting is excellent. It is unbelievable (if not a scandal) that Erkan Avci (Ahmet) is awarded Best Support Male Actor although he is acting the main character role. Besides him, Kerem Can (Can), Tilbe Saran (Sevgi) and Unal Silver (Yilmaz) also did amazing job. There are a couple of dance scenes, which brings Can's inner world to viewer. Those scenes are well blended into movie, usually using parallel editing technique. It is all matched perfectly with Demir Demirkan's dance music. Not to forget Paolo Poti, an Italian composer, who wrote the dramatic score. Technical side of the movie is really superior. Colors and sound mixing are at such level, one wouldn't expect from the Turkish movie. At the end I would like to say that Zenne is a movie I would strongly recommend. Although it describes Turkish society, it also goes far beyond, questioning generic values such as family, pride, tradition… It will definitely leave strong impact on viewers all around the world.