Özgür Yıldırım (born 12 September 1979,

Dulsberg Dulsberg () is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough of Hamburg-Nord. In the east and the south it borders Wandsbek. History *1906: the station "Friedrichsberg" was opened by Hamburg S-Bahn *1910: the second great fire of Hamburg *U ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

) is a German-Turkish film director.

Life and career

Yıldırım was born into a family of Turkish

Gastarbeiter ; ; both singular and plural) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally considered t ...

(guest workers.) At the age of 11, he began to write stories and at the age of 14, he published his first book: the horror novel ''Graue Nächte'' (1993). After graduating from gymnasium, Yıldırım studied at the Hamburg Media School. His first short films led

Fatih Akın Fatih Akin (, born 25 August 1973) is a Turkish-German film director, screenwriter and producer. His films have won numerous awards and accolades, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film '' Head-On'' (2004), Best Scr ...

to call him "the most talented German young director", especially due to his 2004 short film ''Alım Market''. In 2007, he shot his first feature film, '' Chiko''. He was also the screenwriter, for which he received the screenplay award at the Lübeck Nordic Film Days in 2008. The film premiered at the Berlinale 2008 and a year later, was nominated for the Deutscher Filmpreis in four categories, including Best Feature Film. Yıldırım himself was again awarded a prize for his screenplay. In 2011, he shot the feature film '' Blutzbrüdaz'' with rapper Sido in the lead role and also took part in screenwriting. In Germany, ''Blutzbrüdaz'' had, after the first weekend, 128,139 attendants, with 528,834 watching the film overally. In the year 2013, he directed the NDR crime show ''Tatort: Feuerteufel'' in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

with

Wotan Wilke Möhring Wotan Wilke Möhring (born 23 May 1967) is a German actor. Biography Möhring was born in Augustdorf near Detmold and grew up in Herne. His father was an army officer and his mother worked as a teacher. He has a sister and two brothers. O ...

as producer. The first broadcast was on April 28, 2013, and reached 10 million viewers in Germany. The press judged the film and the new team mainly positively. A partial "illogical plot" was criticized, which still leaves air for future consequences. In March 2016, his second crime show, ''

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

: '', was broadcast. In August 2015, Yıldırım's third feature film, '' Boy 7'', based on the novel of the same name by

Mirjam Mous Mirjam Mous (born 7 November 1963) is a Dutch author of children's literature. Early life and education Mous was born in Oosterhout, but raised in Made (Netherlands), Made, Netherlands. Her father was a painter. Mous studied to become a teache ...

, and starring David Kross and Emilia Schüle, premiered in German cinemas.

Filmography

; Short films * 2002: ''Der nötige Schneid'' * 2003: ''Liebe auf türkisch'' * 2004: ''Alim Market'' ; Feature films * 2008: '' Chiko'' * 2011: '' Blutzbrüdaz'' * 2013: ''

: Feuerteufel'' * 2015: '' Boy 7'' * 2016: ''

: '' * 2017: '

External links

* * Patrick Kiefer
''Özgür Yildirim – auf den Spuren von Fatih Akin.''
In the ''

Hamburger Abendblatt ''Hamburger Abendblatt'' () is a German daily newspaper in Hamburg belonging to the Funke Mediengruppe, publishing Monday to Saturday. The paper focuses on news in Hamburg and its surrounds, and produces regional supplements with news from Norde ...

'', 9. February 2008.
''„Der Hingucker“.''
Interview with Özgür Yildirim on the start of the filming of "Chiko" on ''umagazine.de''.

References

1979 births Living people Film directors from Hamburg German Film Award winners German people of Turkish descent {{Turkey-film-director-stub