For some, the countryside is a place of exile where all hopes ultimately merge with solitude.
A boundless place of exile where all hopes and dreams merge with despair like the coinciding destinies of fathers and sons ...

Born in Istanbul on 26 January 1959, he spent his childhood in Yenice, Çanakkale, his paternal hometown. Having graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Boğaziçi University, İstanbul, he studied cinema at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University for two years. After a short film entitled COCOON in 1995, his SMALL TOWN and CLOUDS OF MAY were screened at the Berlin Film Festival. With his subsequent films DISTANT, CLIMATES, THREE MOMKEYS and ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA, he won the Grand Jury Prize (twice), Best Director, Best Actor and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His next film WINTER SLEEP (2014) received the Palme d’Or, the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival.
His latest film, THE WILD PEAR TREE was also in competititon at the 71st edition of Cannes Film Festival.