Ferzan Ozpetek
| Ferzan Özpetek | |
|---|---|
Ferzan Özpetek
|
|
| Born |
3 February 1959 Istanbul,  Turkey
|
| Nationality |
Italian Turkish |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 1997–present |
Ferzan Özpetek (born 3 February 1959, Turkey) is a Turkish film director and screenwriter, residing in Italy; he also has Italian citizenship.
Ferzan Özpetek was born in Istanbul in 1959. When he was a young student in 1976, he decided to move to Italy to study Cinema History at Sapienza University of Rome. He completed his education attending art history and costume design classes at the Navona Academy. He also attended director classes at the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art.
After receiving stage experience with Julian Beck’s Living Theatre, he moved to the cinema landscape, by working as a director assistant to Massimo Troisi, Maurizio Ponzi, Ricky Tognazzi, Sergio Citti and Francesco Nuti. His first work was as Troisi’s assistant director for Scusate il ritardo, followed by Ponzi’s Sono contento, where he had a small role performing as a “madonnaro”.
His directorial debut was with Hamam, an Italian, Spanish and Turkish co-production. The movie, released in May 1997, was presented at the 50th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in the Quinzaine des Realisateurs session. The movie was presented in other international festivals and was sold for distribution in more than 20 countries around the world.
In 1999, he directed Harem Suare, set in his native land of Turkey, telling the tormented love story between the sultan’s favourite, Safiye, and the eunuch Nadir, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the background. The story was written by Özpetek himself in collaboration with Gianni Romoli, who also produced the movie with Tilde Corsi and their R&C Production company. The film was presented in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as at the London Film Festival and at the Toronto International Film Festival.
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