CANNES - Prominent Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the "Best Director Award" with his film "Three Monkeys" in the 61st Cannes Film Festival.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Ceylan said, "I am honored with this award. I dedicate it to my beautiful country Turkey."
His film "Three Monkeys" centers on a father who takes the rap for his employer`s crime in exchange for financial support for his wife and son, only to have the scheme backfire amid bitter repercussions.
The press release about story of the film reads, "a family dislocated when small failings blow up into extravagant lies battles against the odds to stay together by covering up the truth... In order to avoid hardship and responsibilities that would otherwise be impossible to endure, the family chooses to ignore the truth, not to see, hear or talk about it. But does playing `Three Monkeys` invalidate the truth of its existence?"
The film was casted by Yavuz Bingol, Hatice Aslan, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Ercan Kesal, Cafer Kose and Gurkan Aydin.
Born in 1959 in Istanbul, Ceylan graduated from Bogazici University with a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Later, he went on with his studies on cinema for two years at Mimar Sinan University.
His first short film "Koza (Cocoon)" was screened in the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. He received many awards with his debut feature "Kasaba (Small Town)". His third feature "Uzak (Distant)" received many awards including the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actor Prize at Cannes, and was praised internationally. His latest film "Iklimler (Climates)" won the FIPRESCI Movie Critics` Award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and received international praise by critics and experts. The film won 5 awards at the 2006 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, bringing him the "Best Director" title.
(UK-MS)