Suna Selen

Acting

Suna Selen

Born 1939-07-01 · Istanbul, Turkey

Suna Selen (born 1 July 1939) is a Turkish actress of theatre, film and television. She has appeared in numerous plays at the Istanbul State Theatre. Selen was born in 1939 in Istanbul. Her father was lawyer Hüsamettin Selen, and her mother, Nimet Selen, was a granddaughter of scholar Ahmed Cevdet Pasha and daughter of Fatma Aliye Topuz. She finished her high school education at the Beşiktaş Atatürk Anadolu Lisesi. During her high school years she also attended the Theatre Department of Beşiktaş Municipal Conservatory. In 1956, she started studying law at the request of her family. At the same time she started to work at the Dormen Theatre. A year later, she left the law school and started her painting education at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts. In 1957, she married the painter Cem Kabaağaç and together they had a son. After her marriage, she left the Academy and pitched out her role at the Dormen Theatre. She began her professional career in the theatre season of 1959–60 with Alexandro Casona's Woman Coming at Dawn. During the same season she soon became famous as Nicole Cerusier in Alber Husson's comedy The Pavements in the Sky. In addition to theatre plays, she also starred in a number of motion pictures and series. For her role as the Witch in Pamuk Prenses ve 7 Cüceler she won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 1971 International Antalya Film Festival. She was the recipient of the Best Supporting Actress award at the Ankara International Film Festival for her role as Füruzan in Cazibe Hanımın Gündüz Düşleri. For her role as Elmas in Gönderilmemiş Mektuplar, Selen won the Best Actress award at the International Istanbul Film Festival. Selen's second marriage was to Münir Özkul, from which she has a daughter, named Güner Özkul. In 1974, she divorced Münir Özkul and married play writer Güner Sümer. She later gave birth to her third child and second son Sinan Sümer. In 2016, "because of the dignity she gained in acting profession during her long life as an artist", she became the first recipient of the Lifetime Nadide Küntay Award at the İsmet Küntay Theatre Awards ceremony.

Acting credits

Beyond the Nights poster
7.7

Seven friends living in the same neighborhood with different aims form a gang to rob gas stations in pursuit of their shared desire for money. The film serves as a critique of the socio-economic situation of Türkiye and the approach to the "American Dream" in the period of time before May 27th.

Beyond the Nights

1960

No artwork available
1.0

No synopsis available yet.

Taş Yastık

2008

İffet poster
5.0

Iffet lives in a low income neighbourhood of Istanbul with her sister and father under the strict rules of her father. She can not even go visit her aunt since she is not allowed to leave home without permission. She nevethless falls in love with Cemil…

İffet

1982

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs poster
5.9

A beautiful girl, Snow White, takes refuge in the forest in the house of seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother, the wicked Queen. The Queen is jealous because she wants to be known as "the fairest in the land," and Snow White's beauty surpasses her own.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

1971

Kürtaj poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Kürtaj

1981

Fırtına Gönüller poster
NR

A love story between a ballerina and a writer. Ahu’s greatest dream is to one day modernize and stage the dances of ancient civilizations. Ahu, who needs to train in ballet to pursue this goal, cannot afford the tuition and is forced to put her dreams on hold. However, wealthy men are willing to grant Ahu all her wishes in exchange for marriage. Ahu, however, rejects these offers, which she views as little more than business contracts. One day, she meets a writer who will change her mind about marriage.

Fırtına Gönüller

1984

Once a Year poster
7.7

A young hapless couple's devotion for each other is tested through harsh times of war as they are forced to negate patriotism and dependability to their families and nations, for a length of a lifetime before during and after the war.

Once a Year

1971

A Nation Awakens poster
5.2

Ertem Egilmez's period drama about National Forces in the Turkish War of Independence.

A Nation Awakens

1966

Five Minarets in New York poster
5.5

Two Turkish anti-terrorist agents are sent to New York City on a mission to find and bring back the dangerous Islamic leader codenamed "Dajjal", believed to be hiding in there. Working with the FBI and NYPD, the agents orchestrate the arrest of Hadji Gumus, a well-respected Muslim scholar and family man who years before fled to the United States after being released from a Turkish prison, where he served time for murder. This tale love, friendship, peace and prejudices, takes us on a journey seeking to answer the question of whether innocence or guilt even matters to one who lusts for vengeance.

Five Minarets in New York

2010

Yellow Smile poster
5.0

Eda is the owner of a picture gallery. Her husband, İdris, who is a popular poet, is an art consultant. This intellectual couple lives in harmony intellectually, especially in the sexual life of Eda. Because Idris is alcoholic and impotent. When her husband goes to Paris for work, Eda sleeps with her friend Erdal, one of the friends of the night, with the influence of alcohol. This relationship gradually becomes a sensual passion

Yellow Smile

1992

Beyaz Melek poster
6.2

The film is a love story. However, it is not a story about the love between two people, but rather a story about the love and affection that a group of people feel for life and for each other. The film depicts all kinds of love, from east to west, from schoolchildren to villagers, from young to old, in both an emotional and humorous way.

Beyaz Melek

2007

No artwork available
8.0

While working on his novel, an author discovers a mysterious girl in his garden. Is she real or imaginary? Despite this uncertainty, he delves into the girl's world.

Yaz Yağmuru

1994

8 (Sekiz) poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

8 (Sekiz)

2021

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Gecelerin Kadını

1983

Shahmaran poster
5.5

Yusuf leads a poor but peaceful life with his grandfather running coffee on the Golden Horn. Dedesin told him that the sultan’s sultan was influenced by the story of Şahmaran. Dusesi is also the old treasure hunter, Yusuf’s dream world has developed quite a bit.

Shahmaran

1994

Cinderella poster
6.2

Cinderella has faith her dreams of a better life will come true. With help from her loyal mice friends and a wave of her Fairy Godmother's wand, Cinderella's rags are magically turned into a glorious gown and off she goes to the Royal Ball. But when the clock strikes midnight, the spell is broken, leaving a single glass slipper... the only key to the ultimate fairy-tale ending!

Cinderella

1971

Somuncu Baba: Askin Sirri poster
7.3

Based on a real life story of sufi dervish Somuncu Baba, who lived in Aksaray in Turkey.

Somuncu Baba: Askin Sirri

2016

Ara poster
5.8

Ara is the story of four people and an empty house. These people are stuck between their past and stormy relationships, between Istanbul and the "homes" they can't get back, between their innermost secrets and the lies they tell, between east and west. They are stuck in the "space between". The whole action takes place in an almost empty flat which is belong to one of the characters. The camera goes out only once. But various other visuals from commercials, TV series' that has been shot in the same flat, sneak into the film. Spanning around 10 years, the story is told between intervals of these visuals. Turkey has been through a huge change in the last 20-30 years. The modest country of the recent past is a faded memory compared to the consumerist life style of modern day. It is the time of ambitious people who can do anything to "live well", to "break through". This is the story of a small group of people who manage to "live well" but can't help getting lost in a spiritual vacuum.

Ara

2008

MC Dandik poster
NR

Growing up as an orphan and a child without parents, Dandik has faced various problems throughout his life and managed to solve each one on his own. One day, when he encounters his childhood love Aslı, whom he lost years ago, his life changes. Dandik is determined to pursue his love, but at that moment, he faces an unexpected enemy. While trying to defeat this bad guy, he encounters various difficulties and obstacles, but he never even thinks of giving up on his love for a moment. Dandik’s only wish is to build a happy life, and his only helper on this path will be his best friend Fiko.

MC Dandik

2013

The Impeccables poster
6.0

Two sisters in their early thirties find themselves isolated in the Aegean summer cottage of their childhood, as they must deal with their uneasy sibling relationship and confront their devastating recent past past.

The Impeccables

2014

Tour Guide poster
5.3

Ercüment is a showman but every single time he performs, it ends up being a disaster. After a while of being in between jobs, he finds himself as a tour guide due to his father's illness and he has to deal with senior people that are taking the tour just so they can commit suicide together.

Tour Guide

2025

Miracles Of Love poster
6.9

During the 1960s, a disabled man finds himself in an arranged marriage to the most beautiful girl in the village.

Miracles Of Love

2019

Time of Death poster
8.0

A woman... A man... Two people on the brink of death... Perhaps two people who would never meet, or even if they did, would pass each other by like ships in the fog, never seeing each other... Two separate worlds... Two separate histories... But now 'yesterday' is behind them, and they have met in death. And at the point where death's rules, words, and obstacles have been erased, they have set out to discover life. They shared fear, friendship, anger, and love. Who knows, perhaps even love... This was a life without a tomorrow. That's why "today" was so precious. A woman: Ela... A man: Ömer... They truly lived on the brink of death...

Time of Death

1990

Kuyruklu Yıldız Altında Bir İzdivaç poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Kuyruklu Yıldız Altında Bir İzdivaç

1987