Semih Kaplanoğlu (born 4 April 1963) is a Turkish

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and producer.

Life and career

In 1984, Kaplanoğlu moved to Istanbul and worked for a couple of years as a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to incre ...

for advertising companies like Güzel Sanatlar Saatchi & Saatchi and Young & Rubicam. 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 Turkish free-to-air national television channel, established in 1991 by Erol Aksoy, Dinç Bilgin, Haldun Simavi and Erol Simavi, owned by the Can Holding. History The channel replaces Cine5's now-defunct frequencies, and it was ...

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 ...

''), 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 Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a ''plastic medium'', such as clay, wax, paint or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a ductile polymer) to create works of art. The term is used more generally to ...

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 consider ...

''. 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 who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

. 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 human rights activist. He was murdered when he was 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'', daily newspapers affiliated with the

Gülen movement The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...

. At the time, Taraf 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 In the evening of 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted ...

, for which they held the

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

Filmography

Awards

*2001 Ankara International Film Festival - Best Film for ''Herkes Kendi Evinde'' *2001

Istanbul International Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival () 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, Turkey. As mentioned in its reg ...

- Best Turkish Film of the Year for ''Herkes Kendi Evinde'' (tied with ''Dar Alanda Kısa Paslaşmalar'' (2000)) *2002 Singapore International Film Festival - Silver Screen Award for Best Director with ''Herkes Kendi Evinde'' *2005

- FIPRESCI Prize for ''Meleğin Düşüşü'' *2005 Nantes Three Continents Festival - Golden Montgolfiere for ''Meleğin Düşüşü'' *2006

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 - Best Director for ''Egg'' * 2007 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival - 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 - Crystal Simorgh for Best Director (for ''Egg'') *2010

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival for '' Bal''

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