Two years ago, Ferzan Ozpetek's Hamam (The Turkish Bath), programmed in the Directors' Fortnight, was one of the discoveries at Cannes. The intriguing story of a Turk living in Italy who discovers he has inherited a Turkish bath back in Istanbul from a deceased aunt, the film unfolds as an unusual love triangle - the man, his wife and his male lover. It also offers some appealing glimpses of old Istanbul: winding alleyways and back-streets; pavement cafes and crowded restaurants; quaint architecture nestled among historical monuments.

Now Ferzan Ozpetek is back in Cannes with Harem Suare (The Last Harem), selected to close Un Certain Regard. Set in Istanbul in 1904, just before the fall of the Ottoman Empire and with revolution already at the door of the Yildiz Palace, it's the story of Safiyè (Marie Gillain), an Italian girl who was bought by a pasha in the slave market at Cairo and given to Sultan Abdulhamit as a present. There, with the help of the black eunuch Nadir (Alex Descas), she rises quickly in the harem to become Abdulhamit's favourite. The Sultan likes to listen to Verdi's La Traviata, but can't stand the unhappy ending - so he asks Safiyè to rewrite the libretto for him...

Born in Istanbul in 1959, Ozpetek originally went to Italy as a correspondent for Turkish newspapers, and stayed there to work with Julian Beck at the Living Theatre. He became a film-maker after working as an assistant to Ricky Tognazzi and other Italian directors. His two features to date seek to bridge the Western and Oriental cultures.

Regarding The Last Harem the director offers these comments: "With a Westerner's eye I'm trying to unravel one of the most crucial knots of my original culture: the end of the Ottoman Empire, portrayed in one of the places dearest to the imagination - the harem:" Ron Holloway