Ayşe Polat (1970 -   )

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Ayşe Polat, who was born in Malatya in 1970, immigrated to Germany with her family in 1978. Polat, who shot short films before starting university, studied German Literature and Philosophy in Berlin and Bremen. In 1999, his first feature film, "Overseas Tour", was broadcast on television. In 2004, he shot his second feature film called "Protect Yourself". The subject of this movie is the socio-cultural and psychological problems experienced by Berivan, a young refugee girl from Turkey. This film had a great impact in the cinema community. Later, he shot "Haluk's Happiness" (2010) and his last feature film, "The Inheritor" (2013). In addition to feature films, he directed the documentary film "Others" (2016).  

 

Screenwriter Filmography

Celebration For Beyhan, 1994, Director: Ayşe Polat, Screenplay: Ayşe Polat, Director of Photography: Uli Fischer, Actors: Otto Sander, Füsun Demirel, Berivan Kaya, Matthias Rimpler.

International Tour, 1999, Director: Ayşe Polat, Screenplay: Ayşe Polat, Director of Photography: Martin Gressman, Actors: Hilmi Sözer, Özlem Blume, Özay Fechy, Martin Glade, Birol Ünel, Yekta Arman, Poetry Eloğlu, Ercüment Balakoğlu, Producer: Elke Peters.

Protect Yourself, 2004, Director: Ayşe Polat, Screenplay: Ayşe Polat, Director of Photography: Patrick Orth, Cast: Maria Kwiatkowsky, Pınar Erincin, Haluk Piyes, Antje Westermann, Geno Lechner, Jytte-Merle Böhrnsen, Katrin Wasow, Producer: Maria Köpf .

The Heiress, 2013, Director: Ayşe Polat, Screenplay: Ayşe Polat, Director of Photography: Anne Misselwitz, Actors: Özlem Sağdıç, Oktay Çağla, Producer: Ayşe Polat.

In the Blind Spot, 2023, Director: Ayşe Polat, Screenplay: Ayşe Polat, Director of Photography: Patrick Orth, Cast: Ahmet Varlı, Nihan Okutucu, Aybi Era, Max Hemmersdorfe, Muttalip Müjdeci, Rıza Akın, Katja Bürkle, Çağla Yurga,  Producer: Mehmet Aktaş, Janna Heine.

Producer Filmography 

The Heiress, 2013, Director: Ayşe Polat, Screenplay: Ayşe Polat, Director of Photography: Anne Misselwitz, Actors: Özlem Sağdıç, Oktay Çağla, Producer: Ayşe Polat.

 

Awards: 

International Tour  (1999) 

13th Ankara International Film Festival (2001) “Promising New Director” (Ayşe Polat)

Protect Yourself (2004)

16th Ankara International Film Festival (2005) “Special Award of the Board of Selection Committee” (Ayşe Polat)

Locarno Film Festival (2004) “Silver Leopard” (Ayşe Polat

In the Blind Spot (2023)

3rd Izmir International Film and Music Festival (2023) “Best Film”, “Best Director” (Ayşe Polat), “SİYAD Award”

34th Ankara Film Festival (2023) “Best Director” (Ayşe Polat)

42nd Istanbul Film Festival (2023) “Best Film” and “Best Screenplay” (Ayşe Polat)

 

Source

Evren, M. Burçak. (2014). 100 Years of Turkish Cinema. T.R. Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Uçar İlbuğa, Emine. (2016). Representation of Immigrant Girls in the Example of Ayşe Polat's Film Engarde, International Multilingual Academic Journal, 3. 

Tosun, Akil Fikret. (2006). The Immigrant Phenomenon in the Films of Turkish Directors Living in Germany. Dokuz Eylül University Institute of Fine Arts, Master's Thesis. Izmir.