From Netflix’s Atiye to Arthouse: Why Beren Saat Is Going Indie

Two of the most exported faces of Turkish television are trading prime-time budgets for a small independent film. Beren Saat and Ekin Koç, who played Kösem Sultan and Sultan Ahmed I in the 2015 period drama Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, will reunite ten years later in Tüm Yorgun Atlar (literally “All the Tired Horses”), the new feature by Burak Çevik — a director whose first three features all premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. Turkish entertainment journalist Birsen Altuntaş broke the news on 29 October 2026. For sales agents, festival programmers and streaming buyers, the project is a clear signal: Türkiye’s star system and its festival-driven arthouse scene are starting to work together.

In brief

• Star reunion, indie budget: Beren Saat and Ekin Koç share the leads in Tüm Yorgun Atlar, described by Birsen Altuntaş as an independent film.
• Festival pedigree: director Burak Çevik premiered The Pillar of Salt (2018), Belonging (2019) and Forms of Forgetting (2023) in the Berlinale Forum section.
• Producer with an international track record: İpek Erden produces; she co-produced Çevik’s Nothing in Its Place through Vayka Film, a Türkiye–Germany–South Korea co-production now handled by Vienna-based sales agent Square Eyes.
• Story: a theatre actress named Aslı, whose husband has taken his own life, crosses paths with Galip, a thief who slips into other people’s lives on Istanbul’s coast.
• Not yet announced: shooting dates, budget, co-producers, distributor and festival plans.

What is Tüm Yorgun Atlar about?

It is an Istanbul drama about grief, chance and free will. According to Birsen Altuntaş, the film connects two characters: Aslı, a stage actress trying to live with her husband’s suicide, and Galip, a thief who lives on the city’s shoreline and survives by quietly entering other people’s lives. The report describes the film as a story about death and free will.

The production company Fol Film, founded by Çevik in Istanbul in 2017, lists a project called All the Tired Horses among its works in progress — an English rendering of the Turkish title. Character names for the two stars and the full cast have not been published.

Who is Burak Çevik — and why does Berlin matter?

He is one of the few Turkish directors with a steady presence at a top-tier European festival. Çevik’s first three features — The Pillar of Salt (Tuzdan Kaide, 2018), Belonging (2019) and Forms of Forgetting (2023) — all premiered in the Forum section of the Berlinale, according to Cineuropa and the German film database filmportal.de. His video work A Topography of Memory (2019) screened at Locarno, Toronto and the New York Film Festival.

His most recent completed feature, Nothing in Its Place, is a historical drama set in 1978, about five young people who believe a leftist revolution can come through politics rather than violence. It premiered at the Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea and then played Karlovy Vary. Filmportal also lists a newer work, The Weary Hours of Two Lab Assistants, dated 2025/2026.

A Berlinale track record matters commercially because it opens doors to European co-production funds, sales agents and buyers who scout festival line-ups. For a producer, it reduces the risk of a film that will never be seen outside Türkiye.

How are films like this financed?

Through international co-production rather than a single TV channel or platform. Çevik’s previous film is a good example. According to Cineuropa, Nothing in Its Place was produced by Burak Çevik for Fol Films and İpek Erden for Vayka Film in Türkiye, co-produced by Zsuzsanna Kiraly for Germany’s Flaneur Films and by the Jeonju Cinema Project in South Korea. World sales went to Square Eyes in Vienna.

Fol Film’s own credits show the same network logic: the company has worked with Kuyu Film, Karma Film, Vayka Film, Flaneur Films and several French and European partners, and its productions have screened at Berlinale, Locarno, San Sebastián, Venice, Toronto, Rotterdam and Sarajevo. It co-produced Selman Nacar’s Between Two Dawns (San Sebastián New Directors, 2021) and Hesitation Wound (Venice Orizzonti, 2023).

Financing details for Tüm Yorgun Atlar have not been published, so it is not yet known which partners will join. Given the team, international co-producers would be a logical next step.

Why would TV stars choose a small film?

Because prestige and festival exposure now add value to a star’s international profile. Both actors already have strong commercial careers. Beren Saat became famous as Bihter Ziyagil in Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), starred in Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne? and played the title role in Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, according to Hürriyet Daily News. She then led Atiye (The Gift), which Netflix released in December 2019 as its second original Turkish series.

Ekin Koç, born in 1992, played Sultan Ahmed I in Kösem and has since moved steadily into festival cinema: he appeared in Emin Alper’s Kurak Günler (Burning Days, 2022), which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, and in Alireza Khatami’s The Things You Kill (2025), which premiered at Sundance. His filmography also includes Bizim İçin Şampiyon (2018) and the series Üç Kuruş and Taş Kağıt Makas.

For the film, the trade-off works both ways. The director gains two names known to millions of viewers in Türkiye, the Middle East, the Balkans and Latin America, where Turkish series travel widely. The actors gain an auteur project that can take them to the festival circuit.

What does the reunion mean for buyers and festivals?

It makes a small Turkish film easier to sell. Arthouse titles often struggle to stand out in a sales agent’s catalogue. Recognisable leads help with press, local theatrical release and later streaming deals, while the director’s festival history speaks to programmers. A 10-year reunion of the Kösem couple also gives distributors a ready marketing hook in markets where the series aired.

The project also fits a wider trend: well-known Turkish actors increasingly divide their time between high-volume TV and selective film work with international ambitions. Ekin Koç’s recent career is one example of that path.

Our take: who should watch this project?

Our take: Tüm Yorgun Atlar is a small production with a big signal — Türkiye’s TV stars are becoming an asset for its arthouse cinema, and vice versa.

• Sales agents and distributors: track the project for a possible 2027 festival premiere; star leads plus a Berlinale-tested director is a rare combination in Turkish arthouse.
• Co-producers in Europe and Asia: Çevik’s team already works with German and Korean partners; minority co-production slots may open as financing is assembled.
• Streaming buyers: both leads have streaming credentials (Netflix’s Atiye, festival titles); the film is a candidate for a post-festival platform deal.
• Brands and service companies: Istanbul coastal locations, post-production and equipment rental benefit when festival films shoot in the city.

FAQ

When will Tüm Yorgun Atlar be released?

No release or shooting dates have been announced. As an independent film, it is likely to aim for a festival premiere first, but the producers have not confirmed this.

Who directs the film?

Burak Çevik, founder of the Istanbul company Fol Film, whose first three features premiered at the Berlinale Forum.

Who produces it?

İpek Erden, according to Birsen Altuntaş. She previously co-produced Çevik’s Nothing in Its Place through Vayka Film.

What is the English title?

Fol Film lists a project called All the Tired Horses, a direct translation of Tüm Yorgun Atlar. The official international title may still change.

Have Beren Saat and Ekin Koç worked together before?

Yes. They shared the leads in Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem (2015), she as Kösem Sultan and he as Sultan Ahmed I.

Will it be on Netflix?

There is no distribution announcement. Any platform deal would normally follow festival screenings.

Sources

• Birsen Altuntaş, “Beren Saat ile Ekin Koç 10 yıl sonra aynı projede buluşuyor”, 29 October 2026 — birsenaltuntas.com
• Fol Film, company profile and filmography — burakcevik.com
• Cineuropa, “Square Eyes boards world sales on Karlovy Vary title Nothing in Its Place” — cineuropa.org
• filmportal.de, Burak Çevik — filmportal.de
• Hürriyet Daily News, “Beren Saat to star in new Netflix series” — hurriyetdailynews.com
• Webrazzi, on Atiye as Netflix’s second Turkish original — webrazzi.com
• Wikipedia, Ekin Koç — wikipedia.org

This article is for information only. Details of the project are based on published reports and may change; financing, dates and distribution have not been officially announced.