Ayşe Polat (born 19 October 1970) is a German-Kurdish film director, screenwriter and film producer.

Career

In 1992 she releases the short film ''Fremdennacht'', which is supported by the Hamburg Film Bureau. Her 1994 short film ''Ein Fest für Beyhan'' wins several awards, including the WDR sponsorship prize. ''Gräfin Sophia Hatun'' (1997) also tours several international festivals and receives the Special Jury Prize at the Ankara International Film Festival. Her feature film debut ' (1999) toured numerous international festivals and partook in the international competition of

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Polat received the award for best directorial debut at the Ankara International Film Festival. Her second feature film '' En Garde'' (2004) was screened as the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

opening film and received the Silver Leopard for Best Film and Best Actresses, Maria Kwiatkowsky and Pinar Erincin. In 2005, Polat received the German Critics Award for ''En Garde''. In 2006, Polat directed her first theater work ''Otobüs'' at Berlin's Theater Hebbel am Ufer (HAU 2). The play deals with the kidnapping of a group of German package tourists in Turkey. Polat co-produced her third feature film ''Luks Glück''. The tragicomedy tells the story of a Turkish family between Hamburg and Istanbul, whose life is thrown off course when they win the lottery. In 2013, her film '' The Heiress'', which she also produced, premiered at the

International Film Festival Rotterdam The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

. The film deals with the return of a young woman from Germany back to the home country of her deceased father. Her first documentary ''The Others'' is completed in 2016 and has its international premiere at

DOK Leipzig DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every year in Leipzig, Germany. It is an international film festival for documentary and animated film founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Doc ...

Reception

Polat belongs to the first wave of young Turkish filmmakers at the end of the nineties. Her Kurdish heritage allows the young filmmaker a different approach to themes of belonging and origin. As one of the few German filmmakers with a history of migration, she is represented at the retrospective of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, which focuses on the filmmaking of female directors in the period from 1968 to 1999. In her cinematic work, Polat deals with themes of the search and loss of identity. Her work is associated with the Berlin School. Being a director of films that belong to the so-called German-Turkish cinema, Ayşe Polat is particularly involved with the political relevance of a poiesis of seeing films, as it becomes most apparent when a minority position is placed in relation to the context of a hegemonic entertainment culture.

Filmography

* ''Fremdennacht'' (1992), short * ' (1994) short * ''Gräfin Sophia Hatun'' (1997) short * ' (1999) * ' (2004) * ''Luks Glück'' (2010) * ' (2013) * ''Die Anderen (2016)'' * ''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by ...

: Masken'' (2021) * '' In the Blind Spot'' (2023) * ''

: Borowski und das unschuldige Kind von Wacken'' (2023)

Awards

Federal Youth and Video Competition Award * 1991: ''Entfremdet'' Award of the West German Broadcast * 1994: ''Ein Fest für Beyhan'' Ankara International Film Festival * 1997: Jury Prize for ''Gräfin Sophia Hatun'' * 2000: Best Directorial Debut for ''Tour Abroad'' * 2005: Jury Prize for ''En Garde'' * 2023: Best Director '' In the Blind Spot'' * 2023: Best Screenplay ''In the Blind Spot'' * 2023: FIPRESCI Award ''In the Blind Spot'' International Film Festival Locarno * 2004: Silver Leopard for ''En Garde'' Otto Sprenger Directing Award * 2004: ''En Garde'' German Critics Award * 2005: Best Feature Film for ''En Garde'' German Cinema New Talent Award * 2010: Editing for ''Luk's Glück'' Beyond Borders Documentary Film Festival * 2018: Best Sociopolitical Documentary for ''The Others'' DOK. Leipzig * 2018 Ver.di Award for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness for ''The Others'' Oldenburg International Film Festival * 2023: German Independence Award for Best Film ''In the Blind Spot'' Istanbul Film Festival * 2023: Golden Tulip for Best Film '' In the Blind Spot'' * 2023: Best Screenplay ''In the Blind Spot'' Dohuk Film Festival * 2023: Best Screenplay ''In the Blind Spot'' * 2023: FIPRESCI Award ''In the Blind Spot''

References

External links

* 1970 births Living people Mass media people from Hamburg People from Malatya Free University of Berlin alumni University of Bremen alumni Turkish emigrants to West Germany Kurdish film directors Kurdish women film directors Turkish film directors Turkish women film directors {{Germany-film-bio-stub