Ali Ozgenturk

Ali Ozgenturk is a renowned Turkish film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was born in 1945 in Adana, Turkey. After studying philosophy and sociology at Istanbul University, he became involved in theater, as an actor, director, and playwright. He founded Istanbul's first street theater troupe in 1968.

He began working in the Turkish film industry in 1971 as a camera assistant, and eventually became an assistant and screenwriter for famous Turkish film directors such as Atif Yilmaz and Yilmaz Guney.

In 1977, Ozgenturk wrote the screenplay for director Atıf Yılmaz's film Selvi Boylum, Al Yazmalım (The Girl with the Red Scarf), which would go on to become a major hit in Turkey. In 1980, Ozgenturk directed his first feature, Hazal, which he co-wrote with Onat Kutlar. The film won awards at the Mannheim Film Festival, Prades Film Festival, and the Best New Director award at the San Sebastian Film Festival.Ozgenturk followed it in 1982 with At (The Horse), which screened at the Cannes Film Festival and won major awards at the Valencia Film Festival and the Tokyo Film Festival, which awarded it the Ozu Award, carrying a cash prize of $250,000.His third feature, 1985's Bekςi (The Guardian), an adaptation of Turkish novelist Orhan Kemal's classic novel Murtaza, holds the distinction of being the first Turkish film to screen in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

Ozgenturk courted controversy with his fourth film, Su da Yanar (Water Also Burns, 1987), which concerned a director attempting to make a film about the life of controversial Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet.

In 2000, Ozgenturk directed Balalayka, which would go on to become a major box office hit in Turkey. The film ran into trouble early in its production when its original lead actor, Kemal Sunal, died of a heart attack while boarding a plane to the film's location in Trabzon.He was replaced in the part by the Turkish comic Ugur Yucel.

Filmography

• Mektup (1998)
• Sir (1997)
• Ciplak (The Nude) (1991)
• Su da yanar (Water Also Burns) (1987)
• Bekci (The Guardian) (1985)
• At (The Horse)(1982)
• Hazal (1979)

Awards

• 1980 Prades Film Festival First Prize for Hazal
• 1980 Manheim Film Festival Golden Ducat Award for Hazal
• 1980 Mannheim Film Festival Ecumenical Jury Award for Hazal
• 1980 Mannheim Film Festival Audience Award for Hazal
• 1980 San Sebastian Film Festival Best New Director Award for Hazal
• 1982 Valencia Film Festival Second Place Prize for At (The Horse)
• 1983 Sao Paolo Film Festival Second Place Prize for At (The Horse)
• 1983 Lecce Film Festival Grand Prize for At (The Horse)
• 1985 Tokyo Film Festival Yasujiro Ozu Award for At (The Horse)
• 1986 Strasbourg Human Rights Film Festival Second Place Prize for Bekci (The Guardian)
• 1993 Antalya Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Ciplak (The Nude)