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A b o u t  H e r

 

Born in 1982, Kusadasi, at the west coast of Turkey, lives in Istanbul. Turkish contemporary artist, producer, filmmaker, photographer, production designer, actress.

 

After receiving bachelor's degree from the Department of International Relations at Istanbul University, she carried out master's studies at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University's Department of Film & TV. Completed her studies with a second master degree on Basic Art & Design in the same university. 

She acts in different disciplines of art, thinking all of them feed her artistic movements, she tries to be a multifaceted artist. After receiving a short film script award, she decided to work in the film industry and started her career in 2005. She worked in the Turkish film industry at every stage of filmmaking, also in festival organisation for 10 years with director of Akbank Short Film Festival. 

Her debut movie as production designer and as responsible for international relations, was Selim Evci's feature movie "Two Lines" (2008), which premiered at 65th Venice International Film Festival - Critics' Week. She worked in all the creative stages of "Two Lines" including pre-production, production, post-production; also represented the title in many international film festivals and film markets. She was invited to the AFIC (Audiovisual Financing & Commercialisation) seminar as producer in 2008 which was held by MEDIA in Paris at the Sorbonne University. She was involved in the feature movie "Winds" at script development stage and presented it as responsible of international relations. In 2010, she played as leading actress in "Winds" and was also the art director. In 2014, she was involved in the feature movie “Secret” as art director. In 2018 she was invited to 68th Berlin Film Festival - Berlinale 2018 as production designer to attend Production Design Studio of "World Building Institute" as part of Berlinale Talents.

As an actress, she took lessons from Akademi Istanbul, Turkish State Theatres Opera and Ballet Members' Foundation, Nazim Hikmet Foundation of Culture and Art, Gonul Ulku & Gazanfer Ozcan Theatre. In 2010, she was selected to the Theatre section of La Biennale di Venezia for "The Limits of Theatre" directed by Catalan director Calixto Bieito and then invited Calixto Bieito’s performance “Envidia” as actress at 41st International Theatre Festival - La Biennale di Venezia, 2011. 

Having the advantage of working on independent arthouse movies, she experienced every stage of creating, producing a feature  movie; both in front and behind the camera.

While she was working in the film industry in Istanbul, she started working on fine arts, especially on printmaking. And also continued on her own photography works. Her first solo exhibition on engraving & photography took place in Istanbul, 2013. 

After her first solo exhibition in 2013, she was invited from IX.Florence Biennial and received one of the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” awards in “works on paper” category in same year. She has been invited to biennials, triennials, group exhibitions, art fairs in different countries since 2013. She was invited to printmaking class with a grant at Salzburg Summer Academy of Fine Arts in 2015 and 2016. Same year, her work titled “Homage to Albrecht Dürer” became part of the permanent collection of the Albertina Museum, Vienna, where Leonardo da Vinci's, Rembrandts, Picasso's etc. artworks in the same collection. Also took an award on photography from Los Angeles Photo Festival and from Budapest PH21 Gallery Honourable Mention award in 2016. Beside Albertina Museum, her artworks are also in the collections of the Gabrova Museum in Bulgaria, the Drawing Museum in Macedonia, the Douro Museum in Portugal and the Istanbul Graphic Arts Museum.

 

With a note of "Homage to Ingmar Bergman", her second solo exhibition,in 2018 “Myths”, was one of the 100th anniversary events for Bergman that continued throughout 2018, under the directorship of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation. "Myths" was also part of 37th Istanbul Film Festival events. After the exhibition she also attended Bergman Week at Faro island in Sweden, as an artist.

 

The short stories she wrote, inspired from her photoworks; published at literature magazines such as one of the oldest magazine Varlık and Kafkaokur, Pozitif etc.

 

With her documentary film project "Timeless" in development, she is invited to the Kyoto Filmmakers Lab in Japan in November 2019 and started the pre-production of the project.

 

In 2020, she started working with auteur director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's film project "About Dry Grasses" as executive producer. The film had its world premiere in 2023 in the Main Competition Section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival and received the "Best Actress" award with Merve Dizdar. The journey of the film continued at important festivals such as the Toronto Film Festival, the New York Film Festival etc. The film is also Turkey's official submission for Best Foreign Film at the 2024 Academy Awards for Oscars.In addition to producing the film "Kuru Otlar Üstüne", she personally experienced every stage of the film's production and shot the Making-of documentary «While the Grasses are Drying». This behind-the-scenes documentary consists of 3 parts and 7 hours.

In June 2023, representing the first deposit from Turkey; Mediha Didem Türemen deposited “a journey of an artwork” to Arctic World Archive (AWA) which is located in Arctic Ocean in Svalbard Island. Deposit includes creation and printing stage photographs of an engraving work of her “Homage to Albrecht Dürer” and its information in the museum, Albertina. This deposit is also part of her documentary project “Timeless” focusing on leaving a trace to the future. In parallel with her documentary work "Timeless", she started to study at the associate degree at Istanbul University "Cultural Heritage" Department.

In addition to the production process on the documentary «Timeless»; she continues to work on the documentary, photography and engraving project which she created during her journey to Nepal in the Himalayas in May-June 2024.

 

She works in cinema both independently and with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "About Dry Grasses". Her works on photography, engraving and different fields of art continues in Istanbul. 

E d u c a t ı o n

•  2023  |  Istanbul University  |  Associate Degree  |  Cultural Heritage  

•  2019  |  Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University  |  Master Degree  |  Basic Arts and Design
•  2015  |  Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University  |  Master Degree  |  Cinema TV

•  2004  |  Istanbul University  |  Bachelor's Degree |  International Relations

•  2000  |  İzmir Kız Lisesi

•  1997  |  Kuşadası Naci Akdoğan College 

F ı l m o g r a p h y

•  2025  |  Documentary  |  Making of Documentary of Kuru Otlar Üstüne (About Dry Grasses)  Otlar Sararırken (While Grasses are Dying)  

•  2023  |  Fiction Feature  |  Kuru Otlar Üstüne ( About Dry Grasses )  |  Executive Producer  |  director - Nuri Bilge Ceylan

•  2023  |  Documentary Feature  |  Zamansız ( Timeless )  |  Director - Producer  |  director - Mediha Didem Türemen (development)

•  2014  |  Fiction Feature  |  Saklı ( Secret )   |  Art Director  |  director - Selim Evci

•  2010  |  Fiction Feature  |  Rüzgarlar ( Winds )  |  Actress  - Art Director - International Relations  |  director - Selim Evci  

•  2008  |  Fiction Feature  |  Iki Çizgi ( Two Lines )  |  Production Designer - International Relations  |  director - Selim Evci  

M u s e u m   C o l l e c t ı o n s 

•  Austria  |  Albertina Museum  |  Drawings and Prints Permanent Collection

•  Norway  |  Arctic World Archive ( AWA )  |  First entry representing Turkey

•  Brazil  |  Museu da Pessoa  

•  Portugal  |  Douro Museum  |  Biennial Printmaking Collection

•  Macedonia  |  Osten Drawing Museum 

•  Bulgaria  |  Gabrovo Museum House of Humour and Satire

•  Poland  |  International Print Biennial Łódź Collection 

•  Turkey  |  IMOGA - Istanbul Museum of Graphics Art Collection

•  Turkey  |  The Women's Library and Information Foundation

•  Turkey  |  Museum of Troy

A w a r d s   &   N o m ı n a t ı o n s

•  2013  |  Award  |  Italy  |  9th Florence Biennale |  Lorenzo il Magnifico - Works on Paper Category

•  2016  |  Award  |  Hungary |  Honorable Mention Award  |  PH21 Budapest - Lines and Curves Exhibition

•  2005  |  Award  |  Turkey  |  Best Short Film Script  |  Istanbul International Short Film Festival

•  2015  |  Nomination  |  Turkey  |  Golden Orange  |  Art Director  |  52nd Antalya International Film Festival

•  2012  |  Nomination  |  Turkey  |  Türkan Soray Award - Most Promising Actress  | 19th Adana International Film Festival

•  2012  |  Nomination  |  Turkey  |  Golden Boll  |  Best Art Director  |  19th Adana International Film Festival

•  2012  |  Nomination  |  Turkey  |  Golden Boll  |  Best Actress  |  19th Adana International Film Festival

•  2008  |  Nomination  |  Turkey  |  Golden Orange  |  Art Director  |  45th Antalya International Film Festival

S e l e c t e d   E x p e r ı e n c e s   o n   A r t

•  2024  |  Peru  |  Peru Bienal  |  December 6 - 12

•  2024  |  Brazil  |  Labverde  |  "Ecologias Especulativas" |  December 5 - 14

•  2020  |  Turkey  |  Group Exhibition  |  "Printed Re-visited"  |  Mixer  |  May 8 - June 15

•  2020  |  Turkey  |  Group Exhibition  |  "Us Actually"  |  Mixer  |  January 18 - February 22

•  2019  |  Turkey  |  Group Exhibition  |  Artweeks Akaretler  |  September 3 - 22

•  2019  |  Hungary  |  Group Exhibition  |  PH21 Galley Photography Exhibition  |  April 11 - May 4

•  2018  |  Turkey  |  13th Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair  |  September 20 - 23

•  2018  |  Turkey  |  Group Exhibition  |  Printed'18  | Mixer  |  April 19 - June 2

•  2018  |  Turkey  |  Solo Exhibition  |  “Myths” |  Mixer - Adahan  |  April 3 - 23

•  2016  |  Turkey  |  11th Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair  |  November 3 - 6

•  2016  |  Portugal  |  8th International Printmaking Biennial of Douro  |  August 10 - October 31

•  2016  |  Turkey  |  Group Exhibition  |  "There"  | Mixer  |  October 27 - November 27 

•  2016  |  Turkey  |  Group Exhibition | Mixer Sessions I | Mixer |  July 15 - August 15

•  2016  |  Hungary  |  Group Exhibition | PH21 Galley Photography Exhibition | March 17 - April 12

•  2016  |  USA  |  Group Exhibition  | Photogravures at MGC | Manhattan Graphics Center  | March 1 - 10

•  2016  |  USA  |  Group Exhibition |  Los Angeles Photo Festival  | Hatakeyama Gallery  |  August 11 - 15 

•  2015  |  Bulgaria  |  22nd International Biennial of Humor and Satire - Gabrovo  |  May 16 - September 30

•  2015  |  Turkey  |  International Izmir Art Biennial  | May 4 - 11

•  2015  |  Turkey  |  2nd International Visual Arts Gathering Izmir  |  June 11 - 23

•  2014  |  Argentina  |  International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Argentina -  Buenos Aires  | October 3 - 10

•  2014  |  Italy  |  Esposizione Triennale di Arti Visive a Roma |  “Where is Venice?”  | June 6 - 14, 2014

•  2013  |  Italy |  9th Florence Biennial  |  November 30 - December 8

•  2013  |  Turkey  |  Solo Exhibition  | “Following a Seagull” | Gallery Selvin |  September 25 - October 10 

•  2008  |  IFSAK - Istanbul Photography and Cinema Amateurs Association   |  Photography Class

S e l e c t e d   E x p e r ı n c e s   o n   F ı l m   &   A c t ı n g 

•  2019  |  Japan  |  Kyoto Filmmakers Lab 2019  |  October 30 - November 3

•  2019  |  Turkey  |  WMC - Women with Movie Cameras - Script Lab 2019  |  May 27 - June 2

•  2018  |  Germany  |  68th Berlin Film Festival - Production Design Studio - Berlinale Talents |  February 16 - 23

•  2011  |  Italy |   Actress | La Biennale di Venezia - 41st Int.Theatre Festival  | ”Envidia” | director - Calixto Bieito

•  2011  |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | Actress &  Production Designer | Sarajevo Film Festival - Talents Campus

•  2011  |  Turkey  |  Actress |  “Richard’s Rampage” | Workshop  |  director - Kevin Spacey

•  2010  |  Turkey  |  Copywriter | McCann Erickson Istanbul

•  2008  |  France  |  Production Designer  | AFIC - Audiovisual Seminar  | Panthéon-Sorbonne University - Paris  

•  2006  |  Film & TV - Master Degree |  Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University  

•  2005  |  Turkish State Theatres Opera and Ballet Members’ Foundation | Acting 

•  2004  |  Gönül Ülkü & Gazanfer Özcan Theatre |  Acting  | Workshop 

•  2003 - 2005  |  Foundation of Culture and Art Nazım Hikmet   | Acting Class

•  2002 - 2003  |  Academy  Istanbul  | Acting Class

 

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