Menderes Samancılar

Menderes Samancılar — Biography

Born on 1 May 1954 in Adana to a family from Diyarbakır, Menderes Samancılar is an actor of Kurdish descent. In 1974 he won first prize in a newspaper's photonovel contest and starred in more than twenty photonovels within two years; he made his film debut in 1975 in Yılmaz Duru's İnce Memed Vuruldu and, by 1998, had appeared in nearly eighty films, four of them lead roles.

He won Best Supporting Actor at the 1989 Antalya Film Festival for Sis and Best Actor at the 1993 Adana Golden Boll Film Festival for Zıkkımın Kökü, and in 1998 acted in French director Claude Lelouch's Hasards ou coïncidences. He ran as a candidate for Adana in the 1999 general election for the Freedom and Solidarity Party. Writing poetry since age fifteen, he published two poetry collections, in 2003 and 2016.

From the 2000s he appeared in series such as Asmalı Konak, Sıla and Asi, and in films including Güneşi Gördüm, Gözetleme Kulesi, Babamın Kanatları and Güvercin; in 2026 he received, alongside Tilbe Saran, an Honorary Award at the 63rd International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.