Onur Tükel

Onur Tükel — Biography

Onur Tukel was born on August 5, 1972, in Taylorsville, North Carolina, and is a Turkish-American filmmaker, screenwriter, painter and actor who has become a well-known figure in New York's independent film scene; his films generally explore themes of gender and relationships.

He wrote and directed his first feature, House of Pancakes, in 1997, followed by the vampire drama Drawing Blood (1999) and the comedy-drama Ding-a-ling-Less (2001); in 2005, credited as Sergio Lapel, he wrote and directed The Pigs, about middle-aged men who arrange to have their wives murdered. He wrote, produced, directed and starred in Richard's Wedding (2012), which drew praise from The New York Times' David DeWitt, and went on to a warmer critical reception with the vampire comedy Summer of Blood (2014) and Applesauce, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015.

As an actor he has appeared in Septien (2011), Red Flag (2012) and Ping Pong Summer (2014), and worked with Dylan Baker and Ivana Miličević on the films he directed, The Misogynists and Catfight.