Semih Kaplanoglu is a renowned writer-director-producer, born and raised in Izmir, Turkey, in 1963. He received his BS in Cinema-Television from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dokuz Eylul University, in 1984.
Kaplanoglu made his debut feature film, "Away From Home", in 2001, which earned him the Best Director award at the Singapore International Film Festival. He then established his own production company, Kaplan Film, and began writing and directing as an independent producer, creating international co-productions that garnered worldwide acclaim.
In 2005, his second feature, "Angel's Fall", premiered at the Berlinale Forum and received Best Film awards at the Nantes, Kerala, and Barcelona Alternativa Film Festivals. His third feature, "Egg", premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival's Quinzaine des Réalisateurs and brought home Best Director awards from the Fajr, Valdivia, and Bangkok World Film Festivals. The film received over 30 awards, including the Golden Orange at the Antalya Film Festival and the Golden Tulip award at the Istanbul Film Festival.
"Egg" was the first installment of the "Yusuf Trilogy", which cemented Kaplanoglu's reputation as a director. His subsequent films, including "Milk" and "Honey", continued to receive international accolades, including the Fipresci prize at the Istanbul Film Festival.
In 2013, Kaplanoglu was invited to the Cannes Film Festival as a member of the Cinéfondation & Short Film Jury. His 2017 film, "Grain", won the Best Film Award at the 30th Tokyo Film Festival and was a co-production between Turkey, Germany, France, Sweden, and Qatar.
Kaplanoglu is currently working on the final installment of his "Commitment Trilogy", an adaptation of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar's novel "A Mind At Peace". As a producer, he has contributed to his fellow director Aida Begic's film "Djeca", which earned a special mention at the 2012 Cannes Un Certain Regard.
In addition to his work in film, Kaplanoglu has written numerous articles on plastic arts and cinema, which have been translated into foreign languages and published in various magazines and journals between 1987 and 2003.
