Biography
Tayfun Pirselimoğlu (born 1959 in Trabzon) is a Turkish director, screenwriter, and producer. He graduated from Middle East Technical University before moving to Vienna to study painting at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst (Academy of Applied Arts). He has held numerous exhibitions in cities worldwide, including Vienna, Istanbul, Ankara, Budapest, and Tallinn. As a co-founder of the independent art initiative Akademie Genius, he has taught scriptwriting, cinema, and painting. He has also led filmmaking workshops in Vienna, Athens, and Ankara. Pirselimoğlu is the author of six novels—Tales from the Desert, Album of the Missing Persons, Melancholia, Towers of the City, Kerr, and The Barber—and three story collections: Rooms of the Hotels, The Newest Lives of Harry Lime, and Other Side of the Desert. He began his film career as a screenwriter, penning scripts for both short and feature-length films. His directorial debut was the short film Dayım (My Uncle) in 1999, followed by Il Silenzio e d'Oro (Silence is Golden) in 2002; both received numerous international awards. In 2002, he directed his first feature film, Hiçbiryerde (In Nowhereland), supported by Eurimages and also awarded internationally. He created a trilogy exploring themes of conscience and death: Rıza (Riza) in 2007, which premiered at Berlinale Forum; Pus (Haze) in 2009, also premiering at Berlinale Forum; and Saç (Hair) in 2010, which premiered at Locarno Film Festival—each garnering awards. His 2017 film SIDEWAY premiered in Warsaw and earned six awards at various festivals. His most recent feature film, adapted from the novel Kerr, was completed in 2020.
13 wins and 18 nominations
