Background
Kaplanoğlu was born in İzmir, Turkey.
director film editor film producer
Kaplanoğlu was born in İzmir, Turkey.
He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dokuz Eylül University with a degree in Cinema and Television.
In 1984, Kaplanoğlu moved to Istanbul and worked for a couple of years as a copywriter for advertising companies like Güzel Sanatlar Saatchi & Saatchi and Young & Rubicam. He switched over to cinema in 1986 to become an assistant cameraman for two award-winning documentary films. In 1994 Kaplanoğlu wrote the script and directed a television series Şehnaz Tango with 52 episodes which was aired on television channels Show television and InterStar and became successful.
Besides his main pursuits in cinema, Semih Kaplanoğlu wrote articles between 1987 and 2003 on plastic arts and cinema which were published on arts periodicals and translated into foreign languages.
In the years from 1996 through 2000, he had a column named "Karşılaşmalar" in the daily newspaper Radikal. Kaplanoğlu"s second feature film Meleğin Düşüşü (Angel"s Fall) premiered at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival and found wide interest by international film critics and audience.
He founded his own film production company Kaplan Film. Its first feature film Egg in 2007 was a co-production with Greece.
Then Süt (Milk) was released in 2008 and Bal (Honey) was produced in 2010.
The three films Egg, Milk and Honey form a trilogy called Yusuf Üçlemesi (Yusuf"s Trilogy), named after the main character Yusuf in the films. Family
Kaplanoğlu is married to journalist, author and screenwriter Leyla İpekçi, who is a niece of the assassinated notable journalist Abdi İpekçi.
2001 Ankara International Film Festival - Best Film for Herkes Kendi Evinde 2001 Istanbul International Film Festival - Best Turkish Film of the Year for Herkes Kendi Evinde (tied with Dar Alanda Kısa Paslaşmalar (2000)) 2002 Singapore International Film Festival - Silver Screen Award for Best Director with Herkes Kendi Evinde 2005 Istanbul International Film Festival - FIPRESCI Prize for Meleğin Düşüşü 2005 Nantes Three Continents Festival - Golden Montgolfiere for Meleğin Düşüşü 2006 Nuremberg Film Festival "Turkey-Germany" - Prize of the Young Filmmakers for Meleğin Düşüşü 2007 Valdivia International Film Festival - Best Director for Egg 2007 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival - Best Picture, Best Screenplay, NETPAC Jury Award for Best Picture for Egg 2007 World Film Festival of Bangkok - Best Director (Harvest of Talents competition) for Egg 2008 Fajr International Film Festival - Crystal Simorgh for Best Director (for Egg) 2010 Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival for Bal.
