The story takes place in Harbiye town of Antakya just before the 1960 military coup d'etat. The economic and political crisis of those days are reflected by the both funny and sad story of a family. The story is told from the eyes of Cemal. Now a famous painter, Cemal goes back to his hometown years later and remembers his childhood. In those days Cemal's father and uncle, member of rival political parties, are in a continious struggle with each other. The film depicts this absurd struggle and the strange stories of people in Harbiye together with the lyric story of the famous waterfall of the town.

Hayri and Orhan are two music producers head over heels in debt. In an attempt to find the next big thing to turn the business around, they contact Ferhat, a gastarbeiter in Germany, and desperately bring him to Istanbul to sign him. As they are struggling to find the necessary funds to promote Ferhat's debut album, a mysterious rich woman named Firuze shows up and starts supporting them. The future now seems bright, but things are not always what they seem...

Killing The Shadows is a bawdy comic fable set in the Ottoman Empire during the mid-14th century based on two legendary figures in Turkish folkore, the jester Hacivat (Beyazit Ozturk) and the nomad Karagoz (Haluk Bilginer), men who apparently lived and died by their sense of humour.