Green Lanes

As much as we’re different, we’re all the same. Güni Koçak and Marie Drisch’s short film, Green Lanes, is the story of a Turkish family trying to navigate through a tragic event years ago.

Yusef (Güni Koçak) returns to his parents’ (Nej Adamson and Fisun Burgess) home in North London to introduce them to his girlfriend, Fiona (Elizabeth Tan). Yusef’s anxiety about the meeting comes from years of separation after the death of his brother. So what should be a happy dinner gives way to an opportunity to unload over feelings of anger and disappointment.

“…what should be a happy dinner gives way to an opportunity to unload over feelings of anger and disappointment.”

From a distance, this story of grief and family is not a new one and has been told many times in cinema. The difference with Green Lanes is the story comes from the perspective of a Muslim family from Turkey. Familiar is the way parents and children are unable or unwilling to show their emotions in tragedy. Different are the Muslim and Turkish traditions that ultimately bring a family together, and where the film gets its title.

Green Lanes is a solid short film all around with beautiful performances, particularly by Adamson and Burgess as Yusef’s parents. The filmmakers open the window into a culture and people that I still have much to learn.