Yusuf Kurçenli

Yusuf Kurçenli — Biography

Yusuf Kurçenli was born on 20 January 1947 in Çayeli, Rize, and studied journalism at Istanbul University's Faculty of Communications, then worked as a director and producer at TRT, Turkey's public broadcaster, from 1973 to 1980. He made his feature debut in 1983 with Ve Recep Ve Zehra Ve Ayşe, and won the Yunus Nadi Best Film award and Best National Film at the 9th Istanbul Film Festival for Karartma Geceleri (1990), followed by Best Director at the 13th Istanbul Film Festival, Best Film from the Turkish Film Critics Association and both Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 7th Ankara Film Festival for Çözülmeler (1994). Beyond films such as Raziye, Gramofon Avrat, Gönderilmemiş Mektuplar and Yüreğine Sor, he directed television series including Baba Evi and Kurşun Kalem, working with actors such as Tarık Akan and Taner Barlas. He was diagnosed with cancer around the time of his final film and died in Istanbul on 22 February 2012 after roughly a year and a half of illness, and was buried at Ulus Cemetery.