The House of Aslan Bey

Aslan Bey (65) and his wife Sibel (60) settle into an old Ottoman house in a seaside town, hoping for a peaceful retirement. Their family reunites to move Sibel's cherished piano, a symbol of her past, marking a rare moment of harmony. Soon, a mysterious Visitor (70) appears, showing strange interest in the house. Rumors arise that he seeks a hidden treasure. At first skeptical, Aslan becomes obsessed when his son Berat (29) faces financial trouble. Convinced the treasure is real, he begins a frantic search, tearing through walls and the garden, dragging his youngest son Taner (14) into his madness. His daughter Hande (25) watches helplessly as the home and family unravel. In a tragic collapse caused by Aslan's digging, Taner is injured and the house destroyed. When the dust settles, the Visitor returns silently. Whether treasure ever existed is unclear, but the family's true wealth lay in their love and unity, now lost to obsession.

Director’s statement
The House of Aslan Bey is an animated fable about obsession, memory, and denial. Inspired by real treasure hunts in Turkey's abandoned Armenian, Greek, and Jewish homes, it explores how the longing for a glorified past leads to destruction. Through Aslan Bey—a kind man consumed by the myth of buried wealth—the film reflects on greed, identity, and the illusion of control. Each family member embodies a facet of this tragedy: Sibel, his wife, mirrors unfulfilled dreams; Hande, their daughter, lost innocence; Taner, their son, the repetition of inherited trauma; Berat, the eldest, a society blinded by profit; and the Visitor, the haunting memory of displaced peoples. Told without dialogue, the film relies on sound and imagery—the creak of walls, the ticking of time—to express emotion. As the house collapses, it becomes a metaphor for a nation eroding under denial of its past. Rooted in personal histories of migration and loss, the project unites its creators' Turkish and Armenian heritage