Aslıhan Ünaldı is a Turkish cinema screenwriter, director and producer. Born and raised in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Ünaldı has been living in the United States since she was 18 years old. After studying Photography and International Relations at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, she went on to receive her MFA in Film from New York University's acclaimed

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

. Ünaldı's first short film, '' Razan'', premiered at the

Rotterdam Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

in 2006 and went on to screen at dozens of festivals worldwide. In 2011, Ünaldı premiered her first environmental feature documentary, '' Overdrive: Istanbul in the New Millennium''. In 2023, she premiered her feature film, '' Suyun Üstü'' / ''Afloat'', a thriller set in a boat sailing the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

. Ünaldı has also written scripts such as '' Skate Kitchen'', premiered at

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

in 2018, and '' Young Wrestlers'', premiered at the

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

in 2016. In addition, she teaches

screenwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, dev ...

in the graduate film programs of Columbia University and NYU Tisch.https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/grad-film/1408346589

References

{{Reflist Living people 1977 births Turkish women film directors Turkish female screenwriters Turkish women film producers People from Istanbul Turkish emigrants to the United States Yale University alumni New York University alumni