Turkish Director Metin Erksan Passes Away

Famous Turkish director Metin Erksan dies at his 83. Erksan was born in Çanakkale, Turkey in 1929. He directed 42 films in the course of his career, including the 1963 film Susuz Yaz (Dry Summer), which went on to win Turkey’s first international film awards in Berlin and Venice. Dry Summer and his 1962 film Yılanların Öcü (Revenge of the Snakes) were recently featured in “The Space Between: A Panorama of Cinema in Turkey”, a two-week film retrospective co-presented by Moon and Stars Project of The American Turkish Society and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. After shooting short films and serials for the Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) in the Seventies, Erksan completely gave up filmmaking after 1983, and began teaching cinema at Mimar Sinan University. In 2003, he was presented with the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture Award for Turkish Culture and Art for his dedication to promoting cinema of Turkey at home and abroad.