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Ümit Ünal

Ümit Ünal

Writing

Biography

He was born on April 14, 1965. He graduated from 9 Eylül University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Cinema-TV Department in 1985. The short films he made during the school received various awards. His first script, My Aunt, won the First Prize in the 1986 Milliyet Newspaper Script Competition and was filmed by Halit Refiğ. Eight scenarios were filmed between 1986-93. He wrote and directed his first film 9 in 2001. 9, 2003 Turkey's candidate for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar was selected and received awards at various festivals. In 2004, he directed the film Anlat Istanbul, which he wrote the script, together with 4 different directors. The film Ara, which was released, written and directed in 2008, received the 27th International Istanbul Film Festival's Special Jury Prize and the 15th Golden Boll Film Festival awards for best script and best editing. In 2008, he scripted and directed Hasan Ali Toptaş's novel called Gölgesizler. In 2010, he directed the movie Sound, which was written by Uygar Şirin. Unal most recently directed the movie Nar, which he wrote in 2011. Four of his books have been published.

Known For

Ara
5.8

Ara is the story of four people and an empty house. These people are stuck between their past and stormy relationships, between Istanbul and the "homes" they can't get back, between their innermost secrets and the lies they tell, between east and west. They are stuck in the "space between". The whole action takes place in an almost empty flat which is belong to one of the characters. The camera goes out only once. But various other visuals from commercials, TV series' that has been shot in the same flat, sneak into the film. Spanning around 10 years, the story is told between intervals of these visuals. Turkey has been through a huge change in the last 20-30 years. The modest country of the recent past is a faded memory compared to the consumerist life style of modern day. It is the time of ambitious people who can do anything to "live well", to "break through". This is the story of a small group of people who manage to "live well" but can't help getting lost in a spiritual vacuum.

Ara

2008Movie