Bala Atabek

Bala Atabek — Biography

Bala Atabek is a versatile Turkish performer who combines acting on television, in film and on stage with writing short stories and novels and with photography. She is best known to wide audiences for comic and dramatic roles in TV series, and in recent years she has appeared in productions such as Menajerimi Ara, Gizli Saklı, Derin Mor and Bir Sevdadır.

She graduated from the theatre department of the Müjdat Gezen Arts Center in 2006. Before acting she was drawn to photography: in 2005 she took part in the project 111 Kadın Fotoğrafçı and donated three of her frames to benefit women's shelters. In 2007 she staged and directed Dario Fo's play Kadınları in aid of Amnesty International. Her first screen part was Hasıla in the series Benim Annem Bir Melek, followed by Gonca in Elde Var Hayat, and in 2009 she made her film debut in Eyyvah Eyvah. Her role as Fahriye in Beni Böyle Sev on TRT 1 raised her profile considerably, and in the following years she appeared in the series Çifte Saadet, Bu Sayılmaz, Bir Mucize Olsun and Her Yerde Sen.

In cinema, Her Şey Aşktan, Tutmayın Beni and Karakomik Filmler are among her most visible films. She began writing with the story collection Bizi Büyüten Şey in 2015, and her first novel, İşte Güneş Geliyor, followed in 2016.