lenght 100 min. year 2009 producer BKM istanbul director Yilmaz Erdogan script Yilmaz Erdogan
description
Riza is a 40-some year old living in Istanbul suburbs. He has made numerous bad investment decisions in the past, one of which was involvement in a Madoff-like scheme that bankrupt him as well as numerous friends from the neighborhood. Now his old friends are taking Riza's old company, Neseli Hayat Sirketi/Joyful Life Company to the court which means Riza himself will also have to pay for the damages caused by and money lost through the scheme of Neseli Hayat. He needs money to pay for a lawyer yet that is exactly what he is thin on. Furthermore he lives in a country with +10% unemployment rate and there aren't many jobs, specially leading to Christmas. On top of it all golden-hearted Riza has to pay for his brother in law's wedding, since the brother in law has impregnated his girlfriend and the failure to marry her before the new year means eminent death by the girlfriend's parents. So Riza picks up a job as Santa at a rather fancy shopping mall in Istanbul. He has to Ho-ho-ho clients in a toy store in a Muslim country that does not uphold the Santa tradition (even if St Nicholas is believed to have lived in Southern Turkey).