Yelda Reynaud

Yelda Reynaud — Biography

Born in Vienna, Yelda Kaymakçı Reynaud completed primary school in Germany before moving to Egypt for family reasons, where she worked as a diving instructor for three years; there she met and married French national Jean-Jacques Reynaud, settled with him in Paris, and trained in acting at a Paris theatre school for six years. Fluent in Turkish, English, German and French, with intermediate Egyptian Arabic, Italian and Spanish, she made her screen debut in 1998 as Hülya in Yılmaz Arslan's film Yara, a performance that won her Best Actress at the Antalya Golden Orange, Alexandria and Mar del Plata film festivals.

She went on to appear in films such as Çamur, Anlat İstanbul and Gece 11:45, winning another Best Actress award at the 2005 Istanbul Film Festival for Anlat İstanbul, along with two SİYAD Best Actress awards (2000, 2004) and a Special Jury Prize from the Istanbul Film Festival in 1999. She reached a wide audience playing Aliye in the series Parmaklıklar Ardında, and appeared in the films Yaşamın Kıyısında and Ölümle Dans.

Reynaud co-founded the production company Başıbozuk Ltd. with Özlem Düvencioğlu, and returned to the screen in 2020 with İki Gözüm Ahmet, followed by its 2024 sequel, İki Gözüm Ahmet: Sürgün.