Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Since winning the Grand Prize at Cannes in 2003 for DISTANT (Uzak), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, the ‘Lone Wolf’ of Turkish cinema, has been critically acclaimed for his spare and unaffected style of filmmaking, inviting comparisons to Tarkovsky, Bresson and Kiarostami. Humorous and masterful, his is a cinema that spans the modern experience: examining rural life, relationships, masculinity, and urban alienation. Often operating as writer, director, editor and cinematographer, and usually casting members of his own family, Ceylan's style is unique because it is so personal.

Ceylan was born in Istanbul in 1959 and was brought up in the rural region of Antelonia. After initially studying engineering, he changed track and studied filmmaking at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul. An accomplished photographer, he was first noticed for his 1995 short film, COCOON (Koza) which was selected to play in competition at Cannes. His first feature, THE SMALL TOWN (Kasaba), was shot in black-and-white in the town where he grew up, with a team of only two (Ceylan included). His two following films, CLOUDS OF MAY (Mayis Sikintisi) and DISTANT (Uzak) were selected respectively for the Berlin Film Festival in 2000 and Cannes in 2003. DISTANT won the Grand Prix and Best Actor prize at Cannes.