Ahu Öztürk (1976 -   )

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Born in Istanbul in 1976, Ahu Öztürk graduated from Ege University, Department of Philosophy. He completed his master's degree in Cinema-Television at Marmara University in 2002. After university, Öztürk started working at the Istanbul Mesopotamia Cultural Center. In the same period, he shot his first documentary called "Sandık". This documentary was not broadcast anywhere in Turkey. It was only shown in a few places abroad. Öztürk, who later worked in Kazım Öz's films, wrote the script of the short film "Açık Yara" while he was on the set of the movie "Fırtına". He applied to the competition organized by Ankara Cinema Association within the scope of the Festival on Wheels with his short film "Open Wound" and participated in the "Kars Stories" project. The short film Open Wound was screened at many international film festivals such as Istanbul, Sarajevo, Rotterdam and Jerusalem. 

He wrote the script and directed the movie "Dust Cloth", which was released in 2015 and is about two female cleaning workers. Famous actors such as Asiye Dinçsoy, Nazan Kesal, Mehmet Özgür, Didem İnselel and Serra Yılmaz took part in the leading roles of the film. This film is Öztürk's first feature film. “Dust Cloth” received many awards at national and international levels. 

Screenwriter Filmography

Open Wound, 2010, Director: Ahu Öztürk, Screenplay: Ahu Öztürk, Director of Photography: Özgür Eken, Actors: Ozan Bilen, Nihal Menzil, Necmettin Çobanoğlu, Aygül Koçak, Remzi Bozkuş.

Dust Cloth, 2015, Director: Ahu Öztürk, Screenplay: Ahu Öztürk, Cinematography: Meryem Yavuz, Cast: Asiye Dinçsoy, Nazan Kesal, Serra Yılmaz, Didem İnselel, Mehmet Özgür, Asel Yalın, Yusuf Ancu, Gökçe Yanardağ, Producer: Çiğdem Mater , Nesra Gürbüz, Stefan Gieren.

Awards

Kars Stories (2010)

6th London Turkish Films Festival (2010) “Feature Golden Wings Competition”

Duster (2015)

35th International Istanbul Film Festival (2016) “Best Film” (Ahu Öztürk)

“Best actress” (Asiye Dinçsoy)

“Best scenario” (Ahu Öztürk)

27th Ankara International Film Festival (2016) “Mahmut Tali Öngören Special Award” (Ahu Öztürk)

“Best actress” (Asiye Dinçsoy)

21st Nuremberg Türkiye-Germany Film Festival (2016) “Best Film” (Ahu Öztürk)

“Best actress” (Asiye Dinçsoy and Nazan Kesal)

49th Cinema Writers Association Awards (2017) “Ahmet Uluçay Best First Film”

 

Source

Çiftçi, Ayça & Bozkurt, Abbas. (2019). Dust Cloth: Trapping the Subaltern in Oneself. https://bianet.org/haber/toz-bezi-madunu-kendinde-kistirmak-173774 (Access Date: 01.11.2023).

Morali, Emel. Director Ahu Öztürk's Award-Winning Film Dust Cloth was Liked. https://www.gercekbandirma.com/yonetmen-ahu-ozturkun-odullu-filmi-toz-bezi-begenildi (Access Date: 31.11.2023).

Dust Cloth. (2016). http://www.toz-bezi.com/ (Access Date: 31.11.2023).

No, Eyüp Kaan. (2021). Great Movies Made by Female Directors https://www.indyturk.com/node/311471/t%C3%BCrki%CC%87yeden-sesler/kad%C4%B1n-y%C3%B6netmenlerin-%C3%A7ekti%C4 %9Fi-great-local-cinema-movies (Access Date 31.11.2023).