Short film
The Kindergarten
2026 · 8 min
A gentle, quietly tense story about a father's struggle to belong, seen through the eyes of a child.
- Directed by
- Melis Balcı
- Genres
- Animation, Family
- Starring
- Melisa Sözen, Metin Akdülger, Yaz Bayramin
- Overview
- Selim, who moved from Türkiye to France, joins a mandatory workshop with his 4-year-old daughter Defne and notices his drawings are seen as “strange.” Ashamed of his strange drawings, he works day and night but he can’t draw “normal” animals like the others. The more he tries to fit in, the more he fails. Under pressure, his strange drawings turn into hallucinations. In the final week, when Selim gives up, Defne sees his drawing for the first time and says it’s a dinosaur, telling stories about it. Selim realizes that the strangeness he was trying to hide is a source of inspiration for his daughter.
- How it feels
- Melancholic, tense, warm and earnest. Measured and needs your attention.
- About
- Identity, family, isolation, parenthood
- Content
- No violence, gore, sexual content or swearing.
- Note
- Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown
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In the USNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
- Directed by
- Melis Balcı
- Genres
- Animation, Family
- Starring
- Melisa Sözen, Metin Akdülger, Yaz Bayramin
