Ümit Ünal (born 14 April 1965 in Tire, İzmir), is a

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and author. He is the scriptwriter for eight Turkish feature films including ''Teyzem (My Aunt)'' (1986), ''Hayallerim, Askim ve Sen (My Dreams, My Love and You)'' (1987). His first feature film as a director is '' 9'' which won many awards in various film festivals and was the Official Turkish Entry for the 2003

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. He wrote and directed seven feature films including Istanbul Tales (Anlat İstanbul), Ara, Gölgesizler (Shadowless), Ses (The Voice) and Nar (The Pomegranate). He has published four books. He currently works as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

director/writer, living in Istanbul.

Filmography

As director

*'' 9 (2002 film)'' (2001) **2002 Istanbul International Film Festival - Best Turkish Film of the Year, Best Actress (

Serra Yılmaz Serra Yılmaz (born 13 September 1954) is a Turkish actress. She has appeared in more than forty films since 1983. On a number of films she collaborated with Ferzan Özpetek. She plays the lead role in the theatre piece ''La Bastarda Di Istanbul ...

) **2002 Ankara Film Festival - Best Screenplay, Best Actor - Fikret Kuşkan **2002 14. Ankara Film Festival - Onat Kutlar Best Script, Promising Director *'' Istanbul Tales (Anlat İstanbul)'' (2005) **2005 Istanbul International Film Festival - Best Turkish Film of the Year, Best Actress (

Yelda Reynaud Yelda Reynaud (born Kaymakçı on 17 January 1972) is a Turkish-Austrian actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of ...

) **2005 Adana Golden Boll International Film Festival - Best Film, Best Editing, Best Director of Photography **2005 MedFilm Festival-Rome - Artistic Expression (Original Idea) Award **2006 Bangkok International Film Festival - Jury's Special Mention of Excellence *'' Ara'' (2007) **2008 Istanbul International Film Festival - Special Prize of the Jury, Best Actor (Serhat Tutumluer) **2008 Adana Golden Boll International Film Festival - Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Actress (Selen Uçer) *''Shadowless (Gölgesizler)'' (2009) *''Kaptan Feza (Captain Space)'' (2010) *''SES (The Voice)'' (2010) *''NAR (The Pomegranate)'' (2011) **2011 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival - Special Jury Award

As writer

*''Teyzem (My Aunt)'' (1986) (Director: Halit Refiğ) (

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...

Newspaper Screenplay Competition, First Prize) *''Milyarder (The Billionaire)'' (1987) (Director: Kartal Tibet) *''Hayallerim, Aşkım ve Sen (My Dreams, My Love and You)'' (1987) (Director:

Atıf Yılmaz Atıf Yılmaz Batıbeki (9 December 1925 – 5 May 2006) was a renowned Turkey, Turkish film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was very much a legend in the film industry of Turkey with 119 movies directed. He also wrote 53 screenp ...

) *''Arkadaşım Şeytan (The Devil My Friend)'' (1988) (Director:

) *''Piano Piano Bacaksız (Piano Piano Shorty)'' (1989) (Director: Tunç Başaran) *'' Berlin in Berlin'' (1992) (Director: Sinan Çetin) *''Amerikalı (The American)'' (1993) (Director:

Şerif Gören Şerif Gören ( el, Σερίφ Γκιορέν, Seríf Gkiorén, born 1944 in Xanthi, Greece) is a Turkish film director. Aside from important movies under his own signature, he is also the winner of the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") award in Cannes ...

) *''Yaz Yagmuru (Summer Rain)'' (1993) (Director: Tomris Giritlioğlu)

Published books

*''Amerikan Güzeli (American Beauty)'' (1993) (Stories, Oglak Publishing) *''Aşkın Alfabesi (The Alphabet of Love)'' (1996) (Novel, İyi Seyler Publishing) *''Kuyruk (The Tail)'' (2001) (Novel, Oglak Publishing) *''Işık Gölge Oyunları (Light And Shadow Play)'' (2012) (Autobiography, Yapı Kredi Publishing)

External links

Personal Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unal, Umit Turkish film directors Turkish male writers 1965 births Living people Turkish male screenwriters