YUKSEL YAVÛZ

Biyography

He was born on February 1, 1964, in Karakoçan. In 1980, he went to Germany to join his father. In 1986, he began studying Economics and Sociology in Hamburg, completing this education in 1989, and between 1992 and 1996, he studied visual communication at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts. Yavuz, who has been involved in the film industry and cinema since 1990, drew much inspiration from his own life and his family’s past in his 1994 documentary “Misafir İşçi Babam” (My Guest Worker Father). Among the films he directed are 100 and One Mark, his first feature-length fiction film April Children, and his short films The Man in the White Coat and Little Freedom. In his films and documentaries, the director particularly addresses issues such as minorities and identity in the German context; his films have been screened at many festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, and have won numerous awards such as the Max Ophüls Award, the Amnesty International Human Rights Award, and the Best Film Award.