Private Lesson (Film)

Private Lesson is a 2022 Turkish romantic comedy film directed by Kıvanç Baruönü and written by Murat Dişli and Yasemin Erturan. A co-production by OGM Pictures and Organic Film, the film was released on the Netflix platform on 16 December 2022. Starring Bensu Soral, Halit Özgür Sarı and Helin Kandemir, the film centers on a woman who offers relationship coaching to young people and confronts her own emotional deadlock.

The film revolves around the fictional story of a young woman named Azra who provides life and relationship coaching to young people under the guise of private lessons. Confident in her ability to resolve others’ emotional issues, Azra faces a challenge to her own principles when she meets Burak, a new neighbor who moves into her building. The central conflict of the film is built around the irony of someone who guides others yet is helpless in her own emotional life, dramatizing and comically portraying the saying “the tailor cannot sew his own tear.” Meanwhile, a secondary plotline emerges through Azra’s secret lessons given to university students.

^{A Scene from Private Lesson (}IMDb⁾

Bensu Soral (Azra): The film’s protagonist, Azra is a woman who offers relationship and life coaching to youth, having developed her own unique methods in this field, yet finds herself trapped in emotional deadlocks in her personal life.

Halit Özgür Sarı (Burak): Plays the neighbor who moves into Azra’s building and disrupts her worldview. He is the central character who triggers the film’s romantic conflict.

Helin Kandemir (Hande): A young character who secretly takes lessons from Azra and struggles with social relationships in the university environment, living under the shadow of her aunt’s authority.

Hatice Aslan (Ülker): Hande’s aunt and the university rector. She represents the authority figure in the film, portrayed as traditional, book-bound, and defined by her academic identity.

Hülya Gülşen Irmak (Semra): A character close to Azra who enhances the film’s comedic elements.

Murat Karasu (İsmail): One of the film’s supporting characters.

Rami Narin (Utku): Portrays one of the youthful figures carrying comedic elements.

Elif Ceren Balıkçı (Duygu) and Deniz Altan (Cansu): Represent students who attend Azra’s relationship lessons.

Esengül Yılmaz Şenalp (Bahar): Appears among the young student characters.

The film was produced by Onur Güvenatam, founder of OGM Pictures. OGM Pictures is a company that has produced numerous Netflix Türkiye original films and television series. Shot in Istanbul, the film’s cinematography was handled by Tolga Çetin, and the score was composed by Alp Yenier. The production was created exclusively for the Netflix platform and did not receive any theatrical release.^【1】