Yılmaz Arslan

Yılmaz Arslan — Biography

Yılmaz Arslan (born 20 April 1968 in Kazanlı, Mersin, Turkey) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent. He has lived in Germany since 1975 and completed his Abitur in Neckargemünd.

While still at school he founded the theatre group Sommer-Winter in 1988; his self-penned play Ohnmacht des Alltags earned him an invitation to the 1989 Theatertreffen der Jugend in Berlin. At 24 he presented his debut feature Langer Gang (1992), which won the best directorial debut award at the San Sebastián Film Festival, the Silver Rose in Bergamo, and a nomination for the 1993 German Film Award.

Yara (1998), which he produced, wrote and directed, was honoured at national and international festivals, and Brudermord (2005) won him the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. Through his company MaxMa Film he has also produced films by other directors; his film Sandstern was released in cinemas in 2018, and in 2019 he produced Donato Rotunno's Io sto bene.