Killing the Shadows (Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü?)

Killing the Shadows is a 2005 historical comedy directed by Ezel Akay from a script credited to Levent Kazak. Conceived as the opening chapter of a planned trilogy, the picture offers an imagined origin story for Hacivat and Karagöz, the two pillars of Turkish shadow theatre, and was shot in the Orhaneli district of Bursa.

The plot unfolds in fourteenth-century Bursa, where Mongol pressure on the Anatolian principalities pushes people toward the city. Karagöz, a naive yet remarkably sharp young man, arrives there with his mother after fleeing Mongol tax collectors, while Hacivat works as a courier carrying messages between rulers, talkative and always looking for an angle. The two meet when Hacivat buys Karagöz's ailing cow, and once he spots his companion's natural wit, they end up as stonemasons on a mosque project, until their constant banter amuses the workers and slows the construction, landing them in serious trouble.

Haluk Bilginer plays Karagöz and Beyazıt Öztürk plays Hacivat, with Şebnem Dönmez, Güven Kıraç, Levent Kazak and director Ezel Akay rounding out the cast. The film was produced by Şafak Film.