Seda Eğridere

Seda Eğridere — Biography

Drawing on family stories from the Balkans, Seda Eğridere, a Turkish filmmaker, moved from acting into screenwriting and directing. She first drew attention by starring in, and contributing to the script of, Alina, the Turkish Assassin; her first feature as director, Seasons of War, follows a multi-ethnic couple living through the Siege of Sarajevo. She also worked in psychology and has published articles on neuropsychology in scientific journals.

Her professional career began in 2010 with Alina, the Turkish Assassin. Cast as Alina, she persuaded consulting director Bobby Roth to shoot part of the film in Turkey, and Roth later told Hürriyet that he took the project on only because he trusted her. For the role she learned to speak Russian, Spanish and Arabic, trained in martial arts and learned to ride a motorcycle. Earlier she had a guest part in Hicaz, and she then turned to the independent feature Inside Out, which she wrote and produced. She wrote Seasons of War, her 2014 directing debut, with Mark Harley, and cast actors from the former Yugoslavia who had lived through the war; when floods delayed production, she pledged the film's crowdfunding proceeds to flood relief.

She attended Bursa Anadolu Lisesi and took part in stage productions in Wisconsin as an exchange student. She double-majored in psychology and English literature at Boğaziçi University, then took leading roles in plays such as Proof and Closer at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles.