The Legend of the Ugly King

They called him The Ugly King! A myth, a hero, a film legend. Who was Yilmaz Güney? A highly talented director? A revolutionary? A murderer? A genius or a lunatic? Young director Hüseyin Tabak is searching for answers by conducting research for a script about the Kurdish filmmaker from Turkey. Güney was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. Mainly for political reasons but also for murdering a judge. He started making movies from jail. His most famous film YOL won the Palme d‘Or in 1982. Tabak visits different countries where he meets with Güney‘s family, his actors, prestigious filmmakers such as Michael Haneke and Costa Gavras, former inmates and people on the streets for whom Güney is still a hero. But the deeper Hüseyin digs, the more the legendary Ugly King appears human and vulnerable.