Mahinur Ergün

Mahinur Ergün — Biography

After finishing Üsküdar American Academy for Girls and then the cinema-television department at the Ankara School of Press and Broadcasting, Mahinur Ergün started out making advertising films, shorts and documentaries. In 1987 she made her first video film, Yabancı Bir Sevgi, before directing her feature debut, Gece Dansı Tutsakları (1988), about a romance between a journalist and a dancer. That film impressed Kadir İnanır, and through a producer she met as a result she made Medcezir Manzaraları (1989), which won Best Film and Best Director at the 3rd International Ankara Film Festival; her 1993 film Ay Vakti later earned a Ministry of Culture Achievement Award. Known for unconventional, strong female characters in series such as Çatısız Kadınlar and Nasıl Evde Kaldım, she frequently worked with stage-trained actors including Füsun Demirel, Zuhal Olcay, Derya Alabora and Lale Mansur. She helped launch the directing career of Çağan Irmak, who had been her assistant on Şaşıfelek Çıkmazı, and in 2007 served on the national competition jury of the 44th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. In recent years she has moved from writing and directing her own series to adapting other writers' stories as a screenwriter.