Alper Çağlar

Alper Çağlar — Biography

Süleyman Alper Çağlar is a Turkish film director, screenwriter and editor born on 1 September 1981 in Ankara, the child of a chemical-engineer father. He developed an early interest in storytelling and animation while at Robert College in Istanbul, and completed his first film, the documentary "Not So Far Away", shot in Kyrgyzstan during high school. On a scholarship he studied at the University of Virginia in the United States before graduating from the Graphic Design Department at Bilkent University.

His 2004 film "4 Saat" caught the attention of producer Sinan Çetin, who brought him into advertising and film work at Plato Film. In 2006 he founded the production company ÇağlarArts, naming it after his admiration for LucasArts, and his short films "Bukalemun" and "Camgöz" won awards at several festivals. After military service he moved into features with "Büşra", and the following "Dağ" and its sequel "Dağ 2" became major box-office successes that established his name; "Dağ 2" was later named film of the year at an award ceremony.

His films typically follow flawed, changing anti-heroes and favor improvisation from actors. In 2018 he directed the series "Börü" and its film adaptation, followed later by the science-fiction series "Börü 2039". He is currently working on "İlk Göktürk: Önsöz", the first installment of a mythology-themed trilogy about the Göktürks.