Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Born	(1959-01-26) January 26, 1959 (age 53) Istanbul, Turkey
Alma mater	Boğaziçi University, Mimar Sinan University
Occupation	Film director, Photographer
Years active	1995 - present
Spouse	Ebru Ceylan, actress
Awards	Golden Orange Award for Best Director (1999, 2002, 2006) Golden Orange Award for Best Screenplay (2002) Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award (2008)

Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈnuːri ˈbilɡe ˈdʒejlan]; born 26 January 1959 in Istanbul^[1]) is a Turkish photographer and film director. He is married to the filmmaker, photographer, and actress Ebru Ceylan, his co-star in İklimler (Climates).

Life[link]

Ceylan learned photography at age 15, and developed an interest in film at 22. While Ceylan study at Bogazici University, he participated cinema and photography clubs and he took passport-style photos to make pocket money. After graduating from university with a BSC degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, he went to London and Kathmandu to decide what he should do in life. Then he went to Ankara back to do military service. When he was in the army, he found out how to give shape to the rest of his life 'cinema'. ^[2] Ceylan's first short film Koza (Cocoon) was screened in the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. He received many awards with his debut feature Kasaba (Small Town). His third feature Uzak (Distant) received many awards including the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actor Prize at Cannes, and was praised internationally. His 2006 film Iklimler (Climates) won the FIPRESCI Movie Critics' Award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival^[3] and received international praise by critics and experts. The film won 5 awards at the 2006 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, bringing him the "Best Director" title.^[4] During the preparation of this movie, Ceylan turned his attentions to photography again. From this point on, he began devoting his time to both cinema and photography. "Turkey Cinemascope" is a book of Panoramic Photographs of Turkey by Nuri Bilge Ceylan between the years 2003 and 2009.^[5] He won the best director award in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for Üç Maymun (Three Monkeys).^[6] At the end of his speech, Ceylan stated, "I dedicate this award to my beautiful and lonely country, which I love passionately."

Ceylan has been selected as a juror for the International Competition in 2009 Cannes Film Festival.^[7] He won the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing. His latest film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia premiered In Competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival^[8] and has been selected as Turkey's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.^[9][10]

Style[link]

Ceylan's films have often been described as high art.^[11] He deals with the estrangement of the individual, natural existentialism, monotonous real human lives and fundamental details of life. He uses static shoots and long takes, usually in natural ambience, as well as menacing silences along his "stream-of-consciousness aesthetics". He is known for filming his protagonist from behind which, in his view leaves the audiences to speculate on the brooding emotions of characters whose faces are obscured. Having started his career as a photographer, Ceylan makes films on an extremely low budget. His casts generally consist of amateur actors, most of which are his family members, including his mother and father. The characters in Ceylan's movies appear to be people from everyday life.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official web site
• Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Three Monkeys": Turkish Melancholy and Submission to Fate
• Nuri Bilge Ceylan at the Internet Movie Database
• Editing time at Google Videos (Adobe Flash video) a documentary featuring Ceylan (Turkish)

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