Çöl (film)

Çöl is a 1983 Turkish adventure-drama directed by Çetin İnanç, who co-wrote the screenplay with its star, Cüneyt Arkın. Arkın plays the character Kemal while Salih Kırmızı portrays Ali; Emel Tümer co-stars, with Hüseyin Peyda, Nejat Gürçen and Turgut Boralı also appearing. Mehmet Karahafız produced the picture for Anıt Film, and Sedat Ülker handled the cinematography.

What gave the film its lasting reputation is how closely its story and a number of its scenes track the 1975 American thriller Jaws. That striking resemblance carried the film's name far beyond Turkey, where it came to be known internationally as 'Turkish Jaws.' It stands as one of the more notorious products of a Yeşilçam-era habit of drawing freely on Hollywood blockbusters, and it survives today chiefly as a cult curiosity for viewers fascinated by the stranger corners of Turkish popular cinema.