The son of a wealthy, respected family seeks the hand of Hazal; unexpectedly, soon after her marriage, her husband dies. According to custom, as the deceased family had paid dowry for Hazal, she must marry the next male sibling—which in this case, happens to be an 11-year old boy.

Yaprak is just one of thousands of young women, who leave their quiet village lives behind them to seek their fortune in Istanbul. But the reality of life in a big city is harsh, and Yaprak is forced to take a job in one of the cities licensed brothels. Her beauty and youth make her popular with the patrons and she is soon the focus of the attention of two men; Necmi, a spineless but well meaning young man, and Arab, a deranged pimp who has recently lost his main source of income, his wife Zargana. Necmi wants to take Yaprak away from her nightmare existence, but soon finds himself forced to separate from her by the viscous Arab. Arab spends all of Yaprak's money, but after a savage attack on her, she comes to her senses. She and Necmi get married and as Yaprak says farewell to her friends in the brothel, Arab returns for the last time to seek his brutal revenge...

The film depicts the horror of rabies in a small town. World War II is raging. The war affects the lives of people living in a small town in southern Anatolia, as it does everywhere else in Turkey. The village chief, Haşim, is making a fortune by supplying raw materials to Germany through guests from Ankara. However, the dog brought as a gift by the guests from Ankara bites all the children in the village who want to play with it and then escapes. Soon after, it is discovered that the dog is rabid. The entire village will mobilize to get the children vaccinated as soon as possible.

Based on a well-known Turkish novel, Dilan narrates the story of a peasant woman who decides to avenge the murder of her lover. In a remote village in Southeastern Turkey, two men are in love with beautiful Dilan: the rich Paso and the poor but brave Mirkan. When Dilan chooses Mirkan, Paso has the youth killed by one of his men. Dilan marries Paso, but she murders him on their wedding night and runs away to the mountains. A tragic love story as well as a realistic portrait of the existence of the rural people of Anatolia, Dilan was shown at several international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice and Berlin.