Serhat Caradee is an Australian filmmaker, writer and actor based in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. He is known for feature films '' Cedar Boys'' (2009) and '' A Lion Returns'' (2020) and short films previously. His films have screened at many local and international

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

s, and also been nominated for numerous awards and won four.

Early life and education

Born in Turkey, Caradee arrived in Australia when he was two years old. He played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, and did

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

before becoming interested in drama and acting on stage. He studied

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

for five years in total, at The Australian Playhouse Studio (TAPS), Western Sydney University's Theatre Nepean, and Actors Centre Australia, then switched focus into

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and

film direction 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 vision. The director has a key role in ch ...

. Caradee gained a Graduate Diploma of Arts (Film and Television) - Directing, from AFTRS (the Australian Film, Television and Radio School) in 1999.

Career

As an actor, Caradee's credits include Australian TV series '' East West 101'' and ''

The Principal ''The Principal'' is a 1987 action comedy film starring Jim Belushi, Louis Gossett Jr. and Rae Dawn Chong. Written by Frank Deese and directed by Christopher Cain, it was filmed in Oakland, California, and at Northgate High School in near ...

'' (2015), and the 2016 American

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

series '' Hunters'' for the Syfy Channel. Caradee's influential role models have changed over the years, from Turkish director Yilmaz Güney,

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

and

Elia Kazan Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...

early in his career, to with Krzysztof Kieslowski (Polish filmmaker) and

Nuri Bilge Ceylan Nuri Bilge Ceylan (; born 26 January 1959) is a Turkish director, screenwriter, photographer and actor. His film ''Winter Sleep (film), Winter Sleep'' (2014) won the Palme d'Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, 67th Cannes Film Festival, while s ...

around 2020. He has also been inspired by human rights activists, sociologist's and writers Abby Martin,

Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...

, Gail Dines and Jane Elliott. His first feature film, ''Cedar Boys'', screened at several international film festivals in 2009 and earned award nominations in Australia, including an AACTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay and nominations for awards given by the Australian Writers Guild, Australian Directors Guild, and Inside Film. It won the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. , the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

Audience Award. ''A Lion Returns'' was shot in a record time for an Australian film, the 90 page script was shot over a total of 10 days. The story concerns a young Arab Muslim man returning from fighting for

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

in Syria to his family in Sydney, including his dying mother. It was released in 2020. His upcoming film is based on American author Michael Prescott's book ''Mark of Kane''.

Bonafide Pictures

Caradee and producer Liz Burton are co-creators on a number of projects through their production company, Bonafide Pictures.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caradee, Serhat Living people Australian people of Turkish descent Australian film directors Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian male actors