In the provincial town of Usak, a tightly-wound criminal defense attorney juggles urgent matters on the job and within her family in this engrossing drama. The UK-educated Canan (Tülin Özen in a breathtaking performance) and her slick professional look and attitude stand out like a sore thumb in this backwater, where broken pipes and a collapsing ceiling bring the proceedings in the courtroom to a sudden halt. She’s there to be near her ailing mother, who is now hospitalized and in poor condition, something that unexpectedly creates an impossible moral dilemma for her job defending a poor man accused of the murder of a factory owner. In his finely-tuned second feature, running a tense and concise 84 minutes, director-writer Selman Necar, an NYU graduate, highlights a sinister web of municipal corruption and proves himself among the most exciting voices of the new generation of Turkish filmmakers. –Alissa Simon

Awards: Best International Feature, Zurich; Grand Prix, Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen de Bruxelles