The Most Famous
FILM DIRECTORS from Turkey
This page contains a list of the greatest Turkish Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 1,581 Film Directors, 11 of which were born in Turkey. This makes Turkey the birth place of the 26th most number of Film Directors behind Netherlands and New Zealand.
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Turkish Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Turkish Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Turkish Film Directors.
1. Elia Kazan (1909 - 2003)
With an HPI of 64.05, Elia Kazan is the most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 66 different languages on wikipedia.
Elias Kazantzoglou (Greek: Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου, IPA: [iˈli.as kazanˈdzoɣlu]; born September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( EE-lee-ə kə-ZAN), was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by The New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Cappadocian Greek parents, his family came to the United States in 1913. After attending Williams College and then the Yale School of Drama, he acted professionally for eight years, later joining the Group Theatre in 1932, and co-founded the Actors Studio in 1947. With Robert Lewis and Cheryl Crawford, his actors' studio introduced "Method Acting" under the direction of Lee Strasberg. Kazan acted in a few films, including City for Conquest (1940). His films were concerned with personal or social issues of special concern to him. Kazan writes, "I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme." His first such "issue" film was Gentleman's Agreement (1947), with Gregory Peck, which dealt with antisemitism in America. It received eight Oscar nominations and three wins, including Kazan's first for Best Director. It was followed by Pinky (1949), one of the first films in mainstream Hollywood to address racial prejudice against African Americans. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), an adaptation of the stage play which he had also directed, received twelve Oscar nominations, winning four, and was Marlon Brando's breakthrough role. Three years later, he directed Brando again in On the Waterfront, a film about union corruption on the New York harbor waterfront. It also received 12 Oscar nominations, winning eight. In 1955, he directed John Steinbeck's East of Eden, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences. A turning point in Kazan's career came with his testimony as a witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952 at the time of the Hollywood blacklist, which brought him strong negative reactions from many friends and colleagues. His testimony helped end the careers of former acting colleagues Morris Carnovsky and Art Smith, along with the work of playwright Clifford Odets. Kazan and Odets had made a pact to name each other in front of the committee. Kazan later justified his act by saying he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong." Nearly a half-century later, his anti-communist testimony continued to cause controversy. When Kazan was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1999, dozens of actors chose not to applaud as 250 demonstrators picketed the event. Kazan influenced the films of the 1950s and 1960s with his provocative, issue-driven subjects. Director Stanley Kubrick called him, "without question, the best director we have in America, [and] capable of performing miracles with the actors he uses.": 36 Film author Ian Freer concludes that even "if his achievements are tainted by political controversy, the debt Hollywood—and actors everywhere—owes him is enormous." Orson Welles said "Kazan is a traitor [...] [but] he is a very good director." In 2010, Martin Scorsese co-directed the documentary film A Letter to Elia as a personal tribute to Kazan.
2. Yılmaz Güney (1937 - 1984)
With an HPI of 59.20, Yılmaz Güney is the 2nd most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.
Yılmaz Güney (né Pütün; 1 April 1937 – 9 September 1984) was a Kurdish film director, screenwriter, novelist, actor and communist political activist. He quickly rose to prominence in the Turkish film industry. Many of his works were made from a far-left perspective and devoted to the plight of working-class people in Turkey. Güney won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1982 for the film Yol (The Road) which he co-produced with Şerif Gören. He was at constant odds with the Turkish government over the portrayal of Kurdish culture, people and language. After being convicted of killing judge Sefa Mutlu in 1974 (a charge which he denied), Güney fled the country and was later stripped of his citizenship. A year before his death in 1983, he co-founded the Kurdish Institute of Paris together with the Kurdish poets Cegerxwîn and Hejar among others.
3. Henri Verneuil (1920 - 2002)
With an HPI of 58.04, Henri Verneuil is the 3rd most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.
Henri Verneuil (French: [ɑ̃ʁi vɛʁnœj]; born Ashot Malakian; 15 October 1920 – 11 January 2002) was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International Film Festival, Edgar Allan Poe Awards, French Legion of Honor, Golden Globe Award, French National Academy of Cinema and Honorary Cesar awards. According to one obituary: For exactly 40 years, the prolific Verneuil made movies as mainstream and commercial as any to be found in America or Britain. In his best period – the 1950s and 1960s – he delivered films in the "tradition of quality" so despised by the Nouvelle Vague. Many of them proved excellent vehicles for old-timers Jean Gabin and Fernandel, and newcomers such as Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon.
4. Nuri Bilge Ceylan (1959 - )
With an HPI of 53.78, Nuri Bilge Ceylan is the 4th most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkish: [ˈnuːɾi ˈbilɟe ˈdʒejlan]; born 26 January 1959) is a Turkish director, screenwriter, photographer and actor. His film Winter Sleep (2014) won the Palme d'Or at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, while six of his films have been selected as Turkey's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
5. Ferzan Özpetek (1959 - )
With an HPI of 48.35, Ferzan Özpetek is the 5th most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Ferzan Özpetek (Turkish: [ˈfæɾzan ˈœspetec], Italian: [ˈfɛrdzan ˈɔtspetek, - ˈøts-]; born 3 February 1959) is a Turkish-Italian film director and screenwriter, residing in Italy.
6. Yılmaz Erdoğan (1967 - )
With an HPI of 43.37, Yılmaz Erdoğan is the 6th most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Yılmaz Erdoğan (born 4 November 1967) is a Turkish filmmaker, actor and poet who is most famous for his box-office record-breaking debut comedy film Vizontele (2001) and the television series Bir Demet Tiyatro (1995–2002/2006–2007). He founded BKM Theatre and Film Production. He was awarded the Best Supporting Actor at 4th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for his performance in The Water Diviner (2014).
7. Semih Kaplanoğlu (1963 - )
With an HPI of 41.38, Semih Kaplanoğlu is the 7th most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Semih Kaplanoğlu (born 4 April 1963) is a Turkish screenwriter, film director and producer.
8. Yeşim Ustaoğlu (1960 - )
With an HPI of 39.85, Yeşim Ustaoğlu is the 8th most famous Turkish Film Director. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Yeşim Ustaoğlu (born 18 November 1960) is a Turkish filmmaker and screenwriter.
9. Deniz Gamze Ergüven (1978 - )
With an HPI of 38.77, Deniz Gamze Ergüven is the 9th most famous Turkish Film Director. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Deniz Gamze Ergüven (born 4 June 1978) is a Turkish-French film director best known for her debut feature film Mustang.
10. Sırrı Süreyya Önder (1962 - )
With an HPI of 38.22, Sırrı Süreyya Önder is the 10th most famous Turkish Film Director. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Sırrı Süreyya Önder (born 7 July 1962) is a Turkish film director, actor, screenwriter, columnist and politician. Elected to parliament in 2011 as an independent backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), he later joined the party even though he is not from a Kurdish descent. He competed in the 2014 municipal elections as the Istanbul mayoral candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the sister party of the BDP, coming third with 412,875 votes (4.83%). In the general election of 7 June 2015 he was elected as MP for the 1st electoral district of Ankara Province.
Pantheon has 11 people classified as film directors born between 1909 and 1978. Of these 11, 8 (72.73%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living film directors include Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ferzan Özpetek, and Yılmaz Erdoğan. The most famous deceased film directors include Elia Kazan, Yılmaz Güney, and Henri Verneuil. As of April 2022, 2 new film directors have been added to Pantheon including Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Zeki Demirkubuz.
Living Film Directors
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Nuri Bilge Ceylan
1959 - Present
HPI: 53.78
Ferzan Özpetek
1959 - Present
HPI: 48.35
Yılmaz Erdoğan
1967 - Present
HPI: 43.37
Semih Kaplanoğlu
1963 - Present
HPI: 41.38
Yeşim Ustaoğlu
1960 - Present
HPI: 39.85
Deniz Gamze Ergüven
1978 - Present
HPI: 38.77
Sırrı Süreyya Önder
1962 - Present
HPI: 38.22
Zeki Demirkubuz
1964 - Present
HPI: 36.15
Deceased Film Directors
Go to all RankingsNewly Added Film Directors (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Film Directors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Film Directors since 1700.
