Cemil Ağacıkoğlu is a photographer, writer and film director from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. His credits include five feature films, 8 personal exhibitions, numerous international awards in photography and directing. Born in 1959 in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, he came into directing after a successful career as a photographer. In 1990, he started as a photographer and in 1995 won the title “Artist of FIAP” and in 1998 — “Excellency of FIAP” in 1998. In 1997, he directed his first short film titled ''Cover''. His first feature, '' September'' (''Eylül''), was released in 2011 and was selected for the Montreal and

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. His second feature film ''Apologies'' (''Özür Dilerim'') followed the next year. In 2016, he released his third feature — ''The Field''. The movie premiered at the

Istanbul Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival ( tr, İstanbul Film Festivali) is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, T ...

and was screened at the 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival. In 2021 Ağacıkoğlu released his fourth feature, ''The Cage''. The movie tells a story of a retired police officer Hasan, who starts working in a motel in the alleys of Istanbul after losing his job. The movie was screened at several international film festivals and won a special jury prize at the 18th Adana Golden Boll Film Festival. His fifth feature ''The Reeds'' was shown at the

2023 Toronto International Film Festival The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2023.Victoria Ahearn"TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details" '' Playback'', April 20, 2023. The most noted change from past years was tha ...

in the Centerpiece program.

References

Turkish film directors Living people 1959 births {{Turkey-film-director-stub