Feyzan Soykan

Fed up with South America’s heat, the Maya, lured by rumors of golden soil, migrate to Anatolia, settling near Bağcılar and blending their advanced techniques with Turkish tribal culture. Their rapid rise, however, alarms Byzantium: peace-loving Emperor Klitor III is an avid Maya admirer, but his scheming wife, Empress Klitorya V, and his brother Muhteris conspire to eliminate Klitor, then abduct all Maya women to the imperial dungeons. Their twisted plan? By “improving” Byzantine lineage with Maya genetics while the men take local wives—“only God should know loneliness”—they intend to dilute the Maya’s flawless DNA into common stock.

Groom's Block is slang in Turkey for prison sections holding those accused of serious sex crimes. The film's story and characters are drawn from everyday life. In the Groom's Block, the guards and prison governor manipulate tensions, as prisoners push each other to the edge of existence. We experience the tension and paradox of a violent prison and justice systems reflecting the shifting moral norms and structure of Turkish society. The jailed and jailers enforce violent justice daily, expressing in their lives a society confronted with its need to hide from itself, in desperate denial of its cruel contradictions.