Semih Kaplanoğlu (born 4 April 1963) is a Turkish

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and producer.

Life and career

In 1984, Kaplanoğlu moved to Istanbul and worked for a couple of years as a copywriter for advertising companies like Güzel Sanatlar Saatchi & Saatchi and

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of ...

. He switched over to cinema in 1986 to become an assistant cameraman for two award-winning documentary films. In 1994 Kaplanoğlu wrote the script and directed a television series Şehnaz Tango with 52 episodes which was aired on TV channels

Show TV Show TV is a nationwide television channel in Turkey owned by Albayrak Holding since 2018, acquired from Sadık Albayrak which in turn seized from Ciner Media Group after Turgay Ciner was forced to sell due to tax debts. The channel replaces Cine ...

and InterStar and became successful. Kaplanoğlu's debut feature '' Away From Home'' was awarded Best Director in Singapore IFF in 2001. His second feature '' Angel's Fall'' premiered in 2005 Berlinale Forum and received Best Film Award at Nantes, Kerala and Barcelona Alternativa film festivals. Between 2005 and 2010 he produced and directed the ''Yusuf Trilogy''. ''Yumurta'' (''

Egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

''), the first film in the trilogy premiered in Cannes and won Best Director awards in Fajr, Valdivia and Bangkok film festivals. The trilogy’s second film ''Süt'' (Milk) premiered in Venice IFF. ''Bal'' (''Honey''), the third part won the Golden Bear Award in 60th Berlinale IFF. His latest film ''Buğday'' (Grain) is currently in post-production. His films are characterized by metaphysical themes and distinctively authored use of cinematography. Kaplanoglu, who is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential directors in Turkish cinema , has received 28 international awards and 10 nominations worldwide. He was a jury member in 2013 Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation and Short Films. He also is member of the European Film Academy as well as Asia Pacific Screen Academy. Besides his main pursuits in cinema, Semih Kaplanoğlu wrote articles between 1987 and 2003 on plastic arts and cinema which were published on arts periodicals and translated into foreign languages. In the years from 1996 through 2000, he had a column named "Karşılaşmalar" in the daily newspaper ''

Radikal ''Radikal'' () was a daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. From 1996 it was published by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group. Although Radikal did not endorse a particular political alignment, it was generally considered ...

''. Kaplanoğlu is noted for his support for the governing Justice and Development Party and the President of Turkey,

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

. Kaplanoğlu's critics attributed the generous public funding his production company received in 2019 to his good relationship with the government.

Family

Kaplanoğlu is married to journalist, author and screenwriter Leyla İpekçi, who is a niece of the assassinated notable journalist

Abdi İpekçi Abdi İpekçi (9 August 1929 – 1 February 1979) was a Turkish journalist, intellectual and an activist for human rights. He was murdered while editor-in-chief of one of the main Turkish daily newspapers '' Milliyet'' which then had a cent ...

. Between 2006 and 2013, Leyla İpekçi wrote for '' Zaman'' and ''

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circulati ...

'', daily newspapers affiliated with the

Gülen movement The Gülen movement ( tr, Gülen hareketi), referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ ("Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation" or, more commonly, "Fethullah T ...

. At the time,

and Zaman facilitated the movement's outreach to a broader public as they gained power in Turkey in illegal and extralegal ways. The Turkish government closed down both newspapers after the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, for which they held the

responsible. Kaplanoğlu claimed that he, like others, was cheated by the

Filmography

Awards

*2001

Ankara International Film Festival Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, makin ...

- Best Film for ''Herkes Kendi Evinde'' *2001

Istanbul International 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, Tu ...

- Best Turkish Film of the Year for ''Herkes Kendi Evinde'' (tied with ''Dar Alanda Kısa Paslaşmalar'' (2000)) *2002

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) ( Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore. Founded in 1987, the festival has a focus on showcasing international films and providing a global platform fo ...

- Silver Screen Award for Best Director with ''Herkes Kendi Evinde'' *2005

- FIPRESCI Prize for ''Meleğin Düşüşü'' *2005

Nantes Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

- Golden Crow Pheasant for ''Meleğin Düşüşü'' *2006 Nuremberg Film Festival "Turkey-Germany" - Prize of the Young Filmmakers for ''Meleğin Düşüşü'' *2007

Valdivia International Film Festival The Valdivia International Film Festival (Spanish: Festival Internacional de Cine de Valdivia (FICV o FICVALDIVIA)) is an international film exhibition and competition, held annually in the city of Valdivia, Los Rios region, Chile. The festival ...

- Best Director for ''Egg'' *

2007 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The 44th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival ( tr, 44. Antalya Altın Portakal Film Festivali) was held from October 19 to 28 2007 in Antalya, Turkey. Awards were presented in the 44th Antalya Golden Orange Festival in 20 categories of three comp ...

- Best Picture, Best Screenplay, NETPAC Jury Award for Best Picture for ''Egg'' * 2007 World Film Festival of Bangkok - Best Director (Harvest of Talents competition) for ''Egg'' *2008

Fajr International Film Festival Iran's annual Fajr International Film Festival ( fa, جشنواره بین‌المللی فیلم فجر), or Fajr Film Festival (little: FIFF; fa, جشنواره فیلم فجر), has been held every February and April in Tehran since 1982. T ...

Crystal Simorgh The Crystal Simorgh ( fa, ‌سیمرغ بلورین) is an award given by Fajr International Film Festival Iran's annual Fajr International Film Festival ( fa, جشنواره بین‌المللی فیلم فجر), or Fajr Film Festival (litt ...

for Best Director (for ''Egg'') *2010

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

at the

60th Berlin International Film Festival The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama ''Apart Together'', in comp ...

for ''

Bal Bal may refer to: * Bal (surname), a Dutch, Indian, and Turkish surname * Bal, Iran (disambiguation) * Bal, Zira, a village in Punjab, India * ''Bal'' (film), a 2010 Turkish film * Bäl, a settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland * 8678 Bä ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplanoglu, Semih 1963 births Living people People from İzmir Dokuz Eylül University alumni Turkish male screenwriters Turkish columnists Turkish film directors Turkish film producers Best Screenplay Golden Orange Award winners Crystal Simorgh recipients Directors of Golden Bear winners