Yilmaz Güney in TIFF Toronto

Yilmaz Güney, Turkey’s greatest screen idol and most important director, gained notoriety as both an onscreen tough guy and an offscreen left-wing dissident, who spent half his life in prison under successive military regimes. This selection of some of his key films — many of which he directed by proxy from a jail cell — shines a light on a fascinating cinematic legacy still largely unknown in the West.