03/02/2026 - In his third feature-length documentary, Volkan Üce tells a story of two undertakers, tackling issues of identity, religious customs and culture clashes

Belgian director of Turkish origin Volkan Üce is building a name for himself through a particular interest in nuances of identity, belonging and culture-clash issues combined with a sensibility, humour and sense of rhythm that easily transcend the pitfalls of sentimentality. After 2017's Displaced [+see also:
interview: Volkan Üce
film profile] and 2021's All-In [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (nominated for the European Film Awards), in his third feature-length documentary, 2m² [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which has just world-premiered in IFFR’s Big Screen Competition, he applies his approach to a complex but engagingly and clearly told story of two undertakers.

The main hero is 45-year-old Tayfun, who has been running a funeral service for the Turkish community in Belgium for ten years. He has the air of a slick businessman but is also honestly invested in his work. His people skills are sharpened to perfection, and besides always creating personal connections with his customers, he also holds workshops on handling grief for his staff. He invests in marketing, attends funeral industry fairs and is plotting how to enter the German market.

His company is one of the two that repatriate most of the bodies from Belgium, which has a 400,000-strong Turkish population, while on the other end, in Kayseri, Tayfun's own hometown, we meet Kemal, a 55-year-old undertaker who receives these coffins and transports them on across the country. Kemal's business is not exactly thriving as the market is changing, something which Tayfun took advantage of, and he comes across as an honest, hardworking man disillusioned not only by his financial situation, but also by how customers deal with specific Muslim rituals and customs. A few scenes with two women who wash bodies in his funeral home serve as a nod to this aspect of his views, but are also quietly dignified in their own right. 

The two meet when Tayfun visits his hometown, and besides a new connection being created between the two business partners, this also allows the director to give us a glimpse into the Belgian-based Turk's own feelings towards his departed family members, in a rare emotional scene.

It's a lively, dynamic film, as edited by Eytan İpeker, who smoothly takes us through a number of settings and scenes, economically depicting interpersonal relations and connecting us to the protagonists' lives in a light-handed way, but also to the cultural issues related to the topic. Most Turks want to be buried at home, but there are now second and third generations of immigrants who would prefer to have access to the final resting places of their family members where they actually live. Besides obvious religious and customary differences, the contrast between Belgian and Turkish administrative systems also plays an important role, which gives Tayfun an idea that the film's title is based on.

Cinematographers Sabine Panossian and Joachim Philippe are perceptive and light on their feet, which particularly benefits the depiction of psychological and emotional differences and similarities between the two protagonists. This audience-friendly approach to a serious topic is something we saw in All-In, and here, in a story that lends itself to even more gravity, the director manages to further refine it with apparently little effort. It is significantly supported by the sparsely used, elegant jazzy score by David Boulter.

2m² is a co-production between Belgium's Menuetto Films, Germany's 2Pilots Film Production and filmfaust, and Turkey's Gataki Films and Mitra Films. CAT&Docs has the international rights.