Faruk Aksoy

Faruk Aksoy — Biography

Faruk Aksoy, born in 1964, is a Turkish film director, screenwriter and producer; sources differ on his birthplace, giving both Istanbul and Şanlıurfa. He studied law at Istanbul University, later adding a postgraduate degree there in European Community Law. He broke into cinema as an assistant to writer Onat Kutlar, and while freelancing worked alongside directors including Tony Gatlif, Bernard Faroux and Lucian Pintilie. In 1995 he launched his own production company, producing his first feature, Aşk Ölümden Soğuktur, directed by Canan Gerede, followed by commercials for several European and Korean directors a year later. His directing debut came with Yeşil Işık in 2001; his brother, Fatih Aksoy, also works in the industry as a producer and director.

Through Aksoy Film he has directed or produced the Çılgın Dersane series, the Recep İvedik films, and titles such as Erkekler (2013), Ali Kundilli (2015) and Özgür Dünya (2019). He remains best known for the 2012 epic Fetih 1453, made on a $17 million budget. Karışık Pizza won him a special jury prize at Antalya in 1998, and Özgür Dünya brought him an award nomination in 2019. Aksoy has a daughter, Defne, with his wife Elif, and cast her in a small part in a Fetih 1453 market scene.