Ferzan Ozpetek
Ferzan Özpetek is a famous Turkish film director and screenwriter who currently lives and works in Italy.
He was born on the 3rd of February 1959 in Istanbul, Turkey. After the highschool, he moved to Italy in 1977 to study at the La Sapienza University in Rome. Then he completed courses on the History of Art and Costumes at the Accademia Navona and on Film Directing at the Accademia d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. He worked as an assistant director with Italian directors like Massimo Troisi, Maurizio Ponzi, Francesco Nuti and Ricky Tognazzi during several films or TV series.
In 1997 he made his first movie, "Hamam" (Turkish bath), which gained an incredible success in Italy and in Turkey, as well is in the USA. His second film "Harem Suare" was filmed in 1999 and also received very good critics. During the next years he signed other very successful films such as "Le Fate Ignoranti" (The Ignorant Fairies) in 2001, "La Finestra di Fronte" (Facing Window) in 2003, "Cuore Sacro" (Sacred Hearth) in 2005, and "Saturno Contro" (Saturn in Opposition) in 2007. His latest movie is "Un Giorno Perfetto" (A Perfect Day) which is released in October 2008.
Ferzan Özpetek deals mostly with sexuality issues in several of his films, as well as homosexuality. He won several awards and nominations in many film festivals.
In October 2008, Ozpetek was honored with the Italian Solidarity Merit Medal received from the Italian government for his outstanding works.