Çağan Irmak

Çağan Irmak — Biography

Seferihisar in İzmir Province is where Çağan Irmak, a Turkish director, screenwriter and novelist, was born on 4 April 1970. While studying radio, television and cinema at the Faculty of Communications of Ege University he won the Sedat Simavi Award for the short films Masal and Kurban; after graduating in 1992 he worked as an assistant director to filmmakers including Orhan Oğuz, Mahinur Ergun, Filiz Kaynak and Yusuf Kurçenli.

He reached a mass audience with television series such as Günaydın İstanbul Kardeşim (1998-2001), Asmalı Konak (2002-2004) and Çemberimde Gül Oya (2004-2005), and he wrote, directed and acted in the television film Çilekli Pasta (2000). His features include Babam ve Oğlum (2005), Ulak (2008), Issız Adam (2008), Dedemin İnsanları (2011) and Unutursam Fısılda (2014).

Babam ve Oğlum brought him a string of honours, among them the Turkish Film Critics Association awards for best film, best screenplay and best director. More recently he directed the series Yaratılan (2023) and the biographical film Adile (2025) about Adile Naşit; his first stage play, Palamut Zamanı, premiered in late 2025, and his dystopian novel Artuçkule'nin Tepegöz'ü appeared in 2026.