Senem Tüzen

Senem Tüzen (born 1980) is a Turkish cinematographer, screenwriter, film director, editor, and producer.[1] She is best known for her 2015 film Motherland.[2] for which she earned the Best Screenplay award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2015,[3] Warsaw International Film Festival's FIPRESCI award, and Tbilisi Film Festival's Golden Prometheus Award for Best Film.[4]

Senem Tüzen
Born1980 (age 40–41)
Ankara, Turkey
OccupationFilm director, Film Producer, Film Editor, Cinematographer
Years active2004-present

Personal life

Tüzen is married, and has a son.[5]

Education

Tüzen is a graduate of the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, holding a degree in Cinema and Television.[4][6]

Career

Tüzen's film career has seen her in a variety of roles. She holds credits as an editor, cinematographer, director, and producer.[6][7][8] Her work frequently features themes of women's role within society and how that applies within the family.[4][9][10] A Life Without Words (una Vida Sin Palabras) focuses on the role of three deaf siblings living in rural Nicaragua, and looks at the intersections between disability, gender, and poverty, and how these things work into the family unit.[9] Motherland especially, focuses on the uniqueness of mother-daughter relationships in Turkish culture, and how these relationships are reflective of the political landscape of Turkey.[5] Tüzen's experiences with making films that have come from a politically charged stance have led to her being interested in "scripts that can be shot guerrilla-style, independent of any government or institutional support." mentioning earlier in the same interview that government required approval means that certain Turkish films are never viewed in theaters or at film festivals, comparing the process to censorship.[5]

Tüzen and her husband co-founded the production company Zela Film[6] which produced her feature film Motherland.[11] Zela Film also produced her 2011 documentary A Life Without Words (Una Vida Sin Palabras).[7][11] Zela Film's other projects include:

  • Caring for Kathryn (Working Title) (2018)[11]
  • Little Men (Küçük Adamlar) (2017)[11]
  • Adem'in Seyir Defteri (2009)[11]

Each of these films is being directed by Adam Isenberg, who Tüzen frequently works with, sharing credits on both Motherland[12] and A Life Without Words.[7]

Awards and Accolades

Tüzen's feature film, Motherland is by far her most well awarded film, in 2015 it won the Asia Pacific Screen Awards award for Best Screenplay,[3] as well as the FIPRESCI award at the Warsaw International Film Festival,[1] and the Tbilisi Film Festival's Golden Prometheus Award for Best Film.[1] Previous to Motherland, Tüzen also won two IFSAK Best Short Film Awards for Rats (2005) and Milk and Chocolate (2008).[1] Milk and Chocolate (2008) also received a nomination for the Turkish Film Critics Association's Best Short award.[4]

Filmography

Tüzen's early filmography contains primarily short films, only in the later part of her career has she worked on documentaries and feature films.

Yeah Title Type Role
2004 Ali's Dream[6] Short
2005 Rats[6] Short
2007 Unus Mundus[6] Short
2008 Milk and Chocolate[6] Short
2010 Arpeggio ante lucem (pera berbangê)[6] Short Cinematographer, Editor[8]
2011 A Life Without Words Documentary Director,[9] Editor, Producer[7]
2015 Motherland Feature Film Director, Editor, Producer, Writer[6]

References
  1. "Senem Tüzen". Turkish Cultural Foundation. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  2. "Motherland". Tromsø International Film Festival. 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  3. "Winners Announced in 9th Asia Pacific Screen Awards". 2015-11-26.
  4. "In 'Motherland,' a Turkish director explores an artist's confrontation with her mother". DailySabah. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  5. Beyer, Eric (2016-05-22). "In Conversation with Senem Tüzen, Director of Ana Yurdu". Yabangee. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  6. "Turkish Cinema 2016 Feature Films" Ankara Cinema Association. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  7. "A Life Without Words :: a feature documentary". www.alifewithoutwords.com. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  8. "Turkish Cinema 2010 Documentaries and Shorts" (PDF). Ankara Cinema Association. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  9. Meir, Ortal (2014). "Review of A Life Without Words [Motion Picture] by Adam Isenberg & Senem Tuzen". Canadian Journal of Disability Studies. 3 (1): 7–10. doi:10.15353/cjds.v3i1.142. ISSN 1929-9192.
  10. Isik, Mehmet; Kara, Funda Masdar (2016-09-30). "Turkish cinema in the 2000s: an interview with turkish director Emin Alper". DOC Online - Revista Digital de Cinema Documentário. 20: 162–166. doi:10.20287/doc.d20.en2. ISSN 1646-477X.
  11. "Zela Film". www.zelafilm.com. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  12. "Ana Yurdu - Motherland". www.motherlandfilm.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 2019-11-06.
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