Leylak won the special jury prize for best narrative short film. It's about a Turkish immigrant gravedigger Yusuf who is based in Queens and struggles to make ends meet and care for his young daughter Renk.
Yusuf is also unable to comprehend the fact that his wife died of COVID-19, and withholds the truth from his daughter.
"I feel like this is something that affected the entire world, and Scott and I really wanted to make a film during this time," said director Dennis Latos. "But what makes Leylak so special is that it's not just about COVID, it's not about looking at the hospitals, and looking at the ventilators and focusing on the crisis, but we wanted to tell a story about a father and daughter and a film about loss."
"I think with Leylak we wanted to give people a true insight of what a New York immigrant, a normal New York was going through this time, and what we wanted to leave is something that's heartwarming but heartbreaking the true life that we were living during this time, that everyone was, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel," said director Scott Aharoni.
For more on Leylak visit tribecafilm.com
Short film ‘Leylak’ wins award at Tribeca Film Festival
PUBLISHED 11:03 AM EDT Jun. 20, 2021