Yeşim Ustaoğlu directed the 2008 Turkish film Pandora’s Box, known in Turkish as Pandora’nın Kutusu.
The film follows three adult siblings who search for their missing elderly mother in the Black Sea region. When they find her, the family must confront tensions involving responsibility, memory, aging, and the differences between urban life and rural origins. The mythological title serves as a metaphor for suppressed family problems being opened and exposed.
Ustaoğlu wrote and directed the film, which received international festival attention. Actress Tsilla Chelton played the mother, Nusret, and won the Best Actress award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival for the role. The film is a contemporary family drama rather than a literal adaptation of the ancient Greek myth.
The Turkish title translates directly as “Pandora’s Box.” It should not be confused with G. W. Pabst’s 1929 German silent film, which shares the English title but has a different story and cast.