The Kindergarten 2026

Directed by Melis Balcı

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.