The Salt of Life

The most famous thing about Bitlis, as evoked by the song "Bitlis'te 5 minare" (Five Minarets in Bitlis), is the unique atmosphere of this small city, famous for its parched lands, historical fabric, and tobacco. Medine is an elderly woman living with her three adult children—one an imam at a mosque, one a worker at a cigarette factory, and the other a student at a tutoring center—and is overwhelmed by their troubles. The unexpected return of her fourth child, who was involved in pirated CD sales in Istanbul, escalates the problems and pushes the family into an even more untenable situation. In this distant and suffocating city, everyone—from the wounded cow roaming the hills to the imam at the mosque—has an issue related to pride. As the camera draws closer to its characters and events, it reveals that things are not as they seem, sparking our curiosity to understand the truth.