Following a series of award-winning short films, Yeşim Ustaoğlu began her feature film career in 1994 with The Trace [İz]. The film was screened at numerous international festivals, including Moscow and Gothenburg, and won the Best Film Award at the Istanbul Film Festival.

Ustaoğlu gained international recognition with her 1999 film Journey to the Sun [Güneşe Yolculuk]. The film competed at the Berlinale and won the Blue Angel Award (Best European Film) and the Peace Award. It also achieved great success at the Istanbul Film Festival, winning Best Film, Best Director, the FIPRESCI Prize, and the Audience Award. In 2003, she founded her own production company, Ustaoğlu Film, and presented her third feature Waiting for the Clouds [Bulutları Beklerken] in the 2014 Berlinale Panorama section, where it received the NHK Sundance – International Filmmakers Award.

Ustaoğlu’s fourth feature, Pandora’s Box [Pandora’nın Kutusu], premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008 and won the Golden Shell for Best Film and the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Her fifth film, Araf (2012), was screened in the Orizzonti section at the 69th Venice Film Festival and won Best Film awards at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the Split Mediterranean Film Festival. It also earned Best Performance awards at the Moscow, Tokyo, and Pune Film Festivals. Most recently, Ustaoğlu completed Clair Obscur [Tereddüt], which had its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival and won numerous awards worldwide, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay at the Antalya Film Festival; Best Director and Best Actress at the International Kerala Film Festival; the Jury Prize at the Haifa Film Festival; and Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Music at the Istanbul Film Festival. Ustaoğlu is currently developing a project titled What Remains [Ne Kaldı].

Join Ustaoğlu for a conversation at Hara, accompanied by screenings of her past films.