Yellow Letters (German: Gelbe Briefe) is a 2026 political drama film directed by İlker Çatak, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ayda Çatak and Enis Köstepen. It follows Derya (Özgü Namal) and Aziz (Tansu Biçer), a couple of Turkish theater artists who lose their jobs due to political persecution in Turkey.
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2026, where it won the Golden Bear. It was theatrically released in Germany by Alamode Film on 5 March.
Contents
Premise
The marriage of an artist couple begins to unravel when they lose their jobs shortly after their play's premiere.
Cast
Özgü Namal as Derya Tufan
Tansu Biçer as Aziz Tufan
Leyla Smyrna Cabas as Ezgi Tufan
İpek Bilgin as Güngör Tufan
Aydın Işık as Salih
Aziz Çapkurt as Baran
Yusuf Akgün as Fikret
Uygar Tamer as Kadriye
Jale Arıkan as Kübra
Seda Türkmen as Sema
Emre Bakar as Ismail Karacabaş
Elit İşcan as Cemre
Sultan Ulutaş Alopé as Rojda
Emine Meyrem as Gülin
İpek Seyalıoğlu as Zeynep
Production
Development
An international co-production of Germany, France, and Turkey. In 2021, the project received a €10,000 production grant by the German-Turkish Co-Production Development Fund. It participated at the Berlinale Co-Production Market in February 2022. In November 2022, the project was awarded €65,000 grant from the MOIN Filmförderung. The project received €368,000 production grant from Eurimages in November 2023.
Filming
Principal photography took place in Hamburg and Berlin, standing in for Ankara and Istanbul, and wrapped in July 2024. It was also shot at the Berliner Ensemble Main Auditorium, with a scene involving about 250 extras.
Release
Yellow Letters had its world premiere at the Main Competition section of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2026. In February 2024, Be For Films acquired the film's international sales.
The film was released theatrically in Germany by Alamode Film on 5 March 2026.
The film was also part of Horizons section of the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it was screened from 3 July to 7 July 2026. For its Spanish premiere, it was selected in the 'Official Section' slate of the 71st Valladolid International Film Festival.
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
