Aslı Özge

Aslı Özge — Biography

Aslı Özge is a filmmaker who works between Turkey and Germany and writes and directs her own films, often also producing or editing them. She made her name with her first Turkish feature, Men on the Bridge (Köprüdekiler); her latest film, Faruk, had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI prize.

She studied cinema and television at Marmara University, and a short film she made as a student, Capital C, was shown at many festivals and won awards. After graduating she settled in Berlin and studied philosophy. After short films and the documentary Hesperos'un Çömezleri, her first feature-length film was Biraz Nisan (2003), made with German television, which was not released in Turkey. Her real breakthrough came with Köprüdekiler in 2009-2010, which shared the Best Film award at the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival. Hayatboyu (2013) and Ansızın (2016) followed.

She then moved into television with the mini-series Karanlık Şehir (2020), which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, and she continues to work on projects backed by European co-production support. Her films have been discussed for their portrait of contemporary Turkey, including urban transformation and individual struggle.