Ali Özgentürk

Ali Özgentürk — Biography

Ali Özgentürk worked in Turkish cinema as a director, screenwriter and producer. He first made his name with the screenplay of Atıf Yılmaz's Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım (The Girl with the Red Scarf), and then with Hazal, the first feature he directed himself. He died in Istanbul on 15 May 2025 and was buried in his hometown, Adana.

He came to film by way of the stage. After studying philosophy and sociology at Istanbul University he went into theatre and, in 1968, founded Istanbul's first street-theatre troupe. In 1974 he started on film sets as a camera assistant, then worked as an assistant and screenwriter alongside Atıf Yılmaz and Yılmaz Güney. Hazal (1979) won him the Best New Director award at San Sebastián. At (1982) took the Ozu Award in Tokyo, and Bekçi (1985) became the first Turkish film to compete at the Venice Film Festival. Su Da Yanar (1987), about a director trying to film the life of the poet Nâzım Hikmet, stirred controversy. Later came Çıplak, Seni Seviyorum Rosa, Mektup and the box-office hit Balalayka, whose original lead Kemal Sunal died before shooting, with Uğur Yücel taking the part. He shot Yengeç Oyunu, one of his last films, in Alexandria.

He received a Lifetime Honorary Award from the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival in 2011 and an Honorary Award from the Film Writers Association (SİYAD) in 2014. He was the elder brother of Nebil Özgentürk.