İsmet Metin Erksan (1 January 1929 – 4 August 2012) was a Turkish
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
and
art historian
Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Traditionally, the ...
.
Biography
Erksan was born in
Çanakkale
Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.Pertevniyal High School in Istanbul, he studied
art history
Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Tradit ...
at
Istanbul University
Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...
.
Starting in 1947, he wrote in various newspapers and magazines on cinema. In 1952, he debuted in directing with the films ''Karanlık Dünya'' and '' Aşık Veysel’in Hayatı'' written by Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu. He directed two documentary films in 1954 with the title ''Büyük Menderes Vadisi''.
Metin Erksan gained success with films depicting the problems of people from the countryside he adopted from the literature. '' Susuz Yaz'' won the
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...
Award in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
Halit Refiğ
Halit Refiğ (5 March 1934 – 11 October 2009) was a Turkish film director, film producer, screenwriter and writer. He made around sixty films, including feature films, documentaries and TV serials. He is considered to be the pioneer of th ...
, he was credited as the representative of the national cinema in Turkey.
From 1970 on, he directed films aimed for commercial success. In 1974-1975, he filmed five Turkish stories (''Hanende Melek'' by Sabahattin Ali, ''Geçmiş Zaman Elbiseleri'' by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, ''Bir İntihar'' by Samet Ağaoğlu, ''Müthiş Bir Tren'' by
Sait Faik Abasıyanık
Sait Faik Abasıyanık (18 November 1906 – 11 May 1954) was one of the greatest Turkish people, Turkish writers of short stories and poetry and considered an important literary figure of the 1940s. He created a brand new style in Turkish lit ...
short film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
Exorcist
In some religions, an exorcist (from the Greek „ἐξορκιστής“) is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or performs the ridding of demons or other supernatural beings who are alleged to have possessed a person ...
''" due to the movies' similar plots.
He directed 42 films, 2 of which he produced himself; and wrote the scripts of 29 films. He also starred in the 1998 film ''Alim Hoca'' as the title character.
He died on 4 August 2012 at the age of 83 in a hospital in
Bakırköy
Bakırköy is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district in the European part of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 29 km2, and its population is 226,685 (2022). Bakırköy lies between the State road D.100 (Turkey), D.100 highway (l ...
, Istanbul, having been hospitalized ten days earlier with
kidney failure
Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...
.
Awards
* At the Competition of Turkish Films 1961 (Türk Filmleri Yarışması, 1961), he won the Best Script award for the film ''Gecelerin Ötesi'' (''Beyond Nights'').
* In 1964 he won the
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...
Hülya Koçyiğit
Hülya Koçyiğit (born 12 December 1947) is a Turkish actress. A prominent female lead in the Turkish cinema, she received numerous awards at international film festivals, including the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. Altogether, she ha ...
İzmir
İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
International Fair Film Festival of 1965, he won the award for Best Directing for the film ''Suçlular Aramızda'' (''The guilty is among us'').
* At the 1st
Adana
Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...
Golden Cocoon Film Festival in 1969, he won the award for Best Directing and the Best Film for the film ''Kuyu'' (''Well'').
* At the 24th
Antalya
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...
Film Festival in 1987, he received the Honor Award.