Yılmaz Güney
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Yılmaz Güney, (April 1, 1937 — September 9, 1984) was an award-winning Turkish film director,scenarist, novelist and actor. [1] Many of his works are devoted to the plight of ordinary, middle to low class people in Turkey. He was of Kurdish origin and described himself as an "assimilated" Kurd.[2]
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[edit] Biography
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Yilmaz Guney was born in 1937 in a village near the southern city of Adana, Turkey. His father is a Zaza from Siverek, Turkey and his mother is a Kurd from Varto, Turkey. Güney studied law and economics at the universities in Ankara and Istanbul, but by the age of 21 he found himself actively involved in filmmaking. As Yeşilçam, the Turkish studio system, grew in strength, a handful of directors, including Atıf Yılmaz, began to use the cinema as a means of addressing the problems of the people. Only state-sanctioned melodramas, war films and play adaptations had previously played in Turkish theaters, but these new filmmakers began to fill the screens with more artistic, personal and relevant pictures of Turkish/Kurdish life. The most popular name to emerge from the Young Turkish Cinema was that of Yılmaz Güney. Güney was a gruff-looking young actor who earned the monicker "Çirkin Kral," ("the Ugly King"). After apprenticing as a screenwriter for and assistant to Atıf Yılmaz, Güney soon began appearing in as many as 20 films a year and became Turkey's most popular actor.
Although the early 1960's brought some political reform to Turkey, Güney was imprisoned in 1961 for 18 months for publishing a "communist" novel. The country's political situation and Güney's relationship with the authorities only became more tense in the ensuing years. Not content with his star status atop the Turkish film industry, Güney began directing his own pictures in 1965 and, by 1968, had formed his own production company, Güney Filmcilik. Over the next few years, the titles of his films mirrored the feelings of the Kurdish people: Umut (1970); Agit (1972); Aci (1971) ; Umutsuzlar (1971).
After 1972, however, Güney would spend most of his life in prison. Arrested for harboring anarchist students, Güney was jailed during preproduction on Zavallılar (1975) (completed in 1975), and before completing Endişe (1974), which was finished in 1974 by Güney's assistant, Şerif Gören. This was a cherished role that Gören would repeat over the next dozen years, directing several scripts that Güney wrote laboriously while behind bars.
Released from prison in 1974 as part of a general amnesty, Güney was re-arrested that same year for killing the public prosecutor of Yumurtalık district in Adana, Turkey. During this stretch of incarceration, his most successful screenplays were Sürü (The Herd) (1978) and Düşman (1979), both directed by Zeki Ökten.
"The Herd, in fact, is the history of the Kurdish people, but I could not even use the Kurdish language in this film; if we had used Kurdish, all those who took part in this film would have been sent to jail..." Güney said in his last interview with journalist Chris Kutschera.
After escaping from prison in 1981 and fleeing to France, Güney won the Palme d'Or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival for his film Yol, whose director in the field was once again Şerif Gören. It was not until 1983 that Güney resumed directing, telling a brutal tale of imprisoned children in his final film, Duvar (1983), made in France with the cooperation of the French government.
Güney remains a highly controversial figure in Turkish and Kurdish political and art circles. His works are still highly regarded by cinema critics.
[edit] Exile and death
Güney was an active member of the Türkiye Halk Kurtuluş Partisi-Cephesi (THKP-C) (Turkish People's Liberation Party-Front, TPLP-F), thus it is believed this is the reason for his exile, since there are thousands of supporters of the organization in many European countries, such as the UK, France, Germany and Switzerland, seeking for asylum. Yılmaz Güney died of stomach cancer in 1984, in Paris, France.
[edit] Filmography
See also: List of Turkish films
[edit] Actor
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[edit] Director
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[edit] External links
- Interview of Yilmaz Güney
- (French) Reportages and informations about Yılmaz Güney
- Great Directors profile of Yilmaz Guney in Senses of Cinema
[edit] Notes
Awards | ||
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Preceded by Ekrem Bora |
Golden Orange Award for Best Actor 1967 for Hudutların Kanunu |
Succeeded by Fikret Hakan |
Preceded by newly established |
Golden Boll Award for Best Actor 1969 for Seyyit Han 1970 |
Succeeded by Kadir İnanır |
Preceded by Safa Önal |
Golden Boll Award for Best Screenplay 1970 for Umut 1971 |
Succeeded by not awarded |
Preceded by Cüneyt Arkın |
Golden Orange Award for Best Actor 1970 for Bir Çirkin Adam |
Succeeded by Fikret Hakan |
Preceded by Bilge Olgaç |
Golden Boll Award for Best Director 1971 for Ağıt |
Succeeded by Ertem Eğilmez |
Preceded by Sadık Şendil |
Golden Orange Award for Best Screenplay 1975 for Endişe |
Succeeded by Umur Bugay |
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