Bora Dagtekin (born 27 October 1978) is a German

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 ...

and film director who has directed several of the most successful German-language films, notably ''

Fack ju Göhte ''Fack ju Göhte'' (intentional misspelling of "Fuck you, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Goethe") is a 2013 German comedy film directed and written by Bora Dağtekin and starring Elyas M'Barek and Karoline Herfurth, while Max von der Groeben and Je ...

''.

Early life

Dagtekin was born and raised in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

to a German mother and a Turkish father and moved to

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...

to study screenwriting at the

Film Academy Baden-Württemberg The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg (German: ''Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg'') was founded in 1991 as a publicly funded film school in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Filmakademie is one of the most internationally renowned film ...

, graduating in 2006. His thesis screenplay was an retelling of the classic German play ''

The Robbers ''The Robbers'' (', ) is the first dramatic play by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on 13 January 1782 in Mannheim and was inspired by Leisewitz's earlier play '' Julius of Taranto''. It was wr ...

'' as an action film.

Career

Dagtekin worked as a writer in the advertising industry before finding employment as a writer for various German television series, among them the soap opera ''

Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' ("Good Times, Bad Times"), often abbreviated ''GZSZ'', is a long-running German television soap opera, first broadcast on RTL Television, RTL in 1992. The programme concerns the lives of a fictional neighborhoo ...

''. His directorial debut was '' Türkisch für Anfänger'' (2006–2009); he also wrote and directed a feature-length film with the same name in 2012. His biggest success was the 2013 film ''

'', which was the fourth-most successful German film ever as measured by audience numbers and spawned a movie franchise with two sequels as well as a musical and a spin-off.

Personal life

Dagtekin is known to keep his private life out of the public eye. He has stated in interviews that his films are unapologetically commercial rather than artistic and that this is a reflection of his personal taste, as he does not enjoy the more experimental style of

art films Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

Filmography

Film

Writer

Awards

*2006: Deutscher Fernsehpreis ('' Türkisch für Anfänger'' for best series) *2007: Adolf-Grimme-Preis *2007:

Civis Media Prize The CIVIS Media Prize for Integration and Cultural Diversity in Europe, or CIVIS Media Prize for short, was founded in 1987 by the Federal Government Commissioner for Foreigners' Issues together with ARD (broadcaster), ARD, under the responsibilit ...

*2008: BANFF World Television Award *2008: Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''Doctor's Diary'' as the best series) *2008: Deutscher Comedypreis (''Doctor's Diary'' as the best comedy-series) *2009: Adolf-Grimme-Preis (''Doctor's Diary'') *2009: Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (''Doctor's Diary'') *2009: Winner TV Festival Monte Carlo (''Türkisch für Anfänger'')

References

External links

* German film directors German comedy film directors 1978 births German people of Turkish descent Living people Film people from Hanover German male writers German screenwriters {{germany-writer-stub