
Acting
Taner Birsel
Born 1959-01-01 · Akhisar, Manisa, Turkey
Taner Birsel, born in 1959 in Akhisar in the province of Manisa, Turkey, first studied Journalism and Public Relations between 1976-1980. Then he went on to study Performing Arts at the Conservatory of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, from 1981 to 1985. He has been an actor at the Istanbul State Theatre and starred in more than 30 plays since 1985. Some of the plays he starred in: King Lear, Cyrano de Bergerac, Hamlet, Ay Isiginda Samata, The Death of Danton. Apart from plays, he is well-known for his career in the motion pictures as well. Some of his awards are as follows: Award for the Best Male Actor at the 24th SIYAD (Turkish Film Critics Association) Awards; Award for the Best Male Actor at the 21st SIYAD Awards for his role in "The Confession", (2002), which was screened at the "Un Certain Regard" section of the 2002 Cannes Film Festival; Award for the Best Male Actor for his role in "A Run for Money" (1999) at the 21st Istanbul Film Festival.
Acting credits
4.6Deniz ends up in hospital and has to face the ghosts of past. She manages to discover herself and the hidden secrets in her family drawers.
Drawers
2015
7.5A group of men set out in search of a dead body in the Anatolian steppes
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
2011
8.0In 1950, amidst the ravages of the Korean War, Sergeant Süleyman stumbles upon a a half-frozen little girl, with no parents and no help in sight and he risks his own life to save her, smuggling her into his army base and out of harm’s way.
Ayla: The Daughter of War
2017
6.5A barber working in Istanbul longs to be ‘both here and far, far away’. One day, he takes the day off and disappears abruptly without warning anyone. He then settles in a far-flung village. Some mysterious events start happening in the village as people disappear one by one.
The Shadowless
2009
7.0When Cem finds himself at the brink of losing the love of his life, Alara, he embarks on an expedition to the Blue Cave, Alara's most beloved archeological site, to feel close to her again.
Blue Cave
2024
7.0Ishak, a wandering musician from a small mountain town. A lynching he was a part of 7 years ago comes back to haunt him as he returns to his town to say farewell to his dying mother. Facing the other five perpetrators--his childhood friends—as well as the community and government officials supporting them, Ishak struggles with the guilt weighing upon him. However, the bigger the crime is, the stronger the silence gets since everyone has blood on their hands.
Black Night
2023
7.2In a small Turkish town, two young tuberculous poets try to survive while publishing their poems. As they both fall in love, their life would never be the same.
The Butterfly's Dream
2013
5.5When her husband Cemal is arrested in Romania, Emine is left alone with their child who needs immediate surgery.
Ember
2016
5.4The residents of a small town set between a stormy sea and an ominous forest are becoming insane. They are convinced that successive signs appearing in the town are indications of doomsday.
Sideway
2017
5.3Five people who knew each other for a long time a group of friends, to attend the wedding of a mutual friend goes to Buyukada. Erhan, weddings, and long intervals, the team can come together to be able to record their happy moments brought a camera, and is continuous. All throughout the film viewed, it is reflected from the camera. Later a group of wedding guests attacking zombie, turns into a mess of blood.
Island: Wedding of the Zombies
2010
7.2In a small, poor village leaning over high rocky mountains, the villagers are simple and diligent people who struggle to cope with a harsh nature. They earn their living off the earth and a few animals they feed. Fathers always prefer one of their sons. Mothers command their daughters ruthlessly. Ömer, the son of the imam, wishes hopelessly for the death of his father. When he understands that wishful thinking does not have any concrete results, he begins to search for childish ways to kill his father. Yakup is in love with his teacher, and one day after seeing his father spying on the teacher he dreams too, like Ömer, of killing his father. Yıldız studies and tries to manage the household chores imposed by her mother. She learns with irritation about the secrets of the relationship between men and women.
Times and Winds
2006
5.6A painter with a turbulent history, fiercely committed to his ideals and still averse to settling down despite his 70 years; a lawyer who packed in his job after suffering a heart attack and now pursues a quiet life looking after his pet snail; a doctor already disenchanted with his profession and now discarded by his wife; a career woman braving life on her own, who has made loneliness a life style. These characters are all patrons of Black & White, an Ankara bar that has been around for 25 years, and in a sense the bar is their last haven. The owner, meanwhile, is the irritable, easily offended but utterly lovable Faruk... Black & White is a film about the awareness of growing old, friendship, sensitivity and the finer details of life.
Black and White
2010
6.3The peaceful cohabitation of two 30-something bachelors is disrupted when they both fall in love with the charming young woman who moves in with them.
Our Grand Despair
2011
7.8In the years of military coup, Turkey was unable to produce its own cars. But Pasha believed that Turkish people can produce their own cars so he ordered 2 cars. Gunduz and engineers with him must produce 2 cars in only 130 days!
Cars of the Revolution
2008
6.6Elephants and Grass (Turkish: Filler ve Çimen) is a 2001 Turkish drama film, written and directed by Derviş Zaim, about six different stories that merge into a common theme. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on January 5, 2001, won awards at film festivals in Antalya and Istanbul, including the Golden Orange Behlül Dal Jury Special Award.
Elephants and Grass
2000
10.0A woman and the four men who enter her life... The search for happiness, marriages, arguments, separations, and losses... In short, intense relationships... Sibel works as a general coordinator at the company where she and Metin are employed, while Metin is an industrial designer. The early days of their marriage are filled with excitement. However, soon after, arguments and disagreements begin to push their marriage toward the brink. One day, after an argument, Metin is involved in a car accident on his way home and dies. From this point onward, the film explores the ups and downs in Sibel's life through a different thematic lens.
Bir Kadının Anatomisi
1995
6.3In a small village, young Mert is about to get traditionally circumcised, but the family does not have the money to follow up with the circumcision celebration. The family wants to be able to serve lamb meat to the guests at the celebration. Mert’s older sister scares him that if they cannot afford a lamb the father will slaughter him instead.
The Lamb
2014
5.3Hasret has been seeing the same nightmare for some time, but she keeps living unaware that what she sees is actually remembering. A 30-year-old woman who works in a News Channel, living alone in the flat left by her musician parents who died in a car crash twenty years ago. Is it? The question creeps into her mind, and then (or maybe even before) her life through recurring nightmares: Is it possible that her parents did not die in a car crash?
Inflame
2017
7.1The film is set in present-day Istanbul. Selim is a shop owner in his early forties. He sells clothing for men in his shop situated in one of the back streets of Istanbul. Selim is a family man who has devoted his life to his home and his work. He lives with his wife Ayla, his six-year-old daughter Esma and his old father in a simple flat in and old, modest neighbourhood. He has warm relations with his family. He is an affectionate father. One of his neighbours, a young widow named Nihal tries to seduce Selim, but her flirtation leaves him cold. Selim is known for his honesty and integrity among his family and friends. He is a careful spender. As a little child, he has learned that money is not easily earned. He has no tolerance for petty "trickery" met in daily life. One day, Selim finds a bag full of dollar bills (approximately 500,000$) in a cab. From that day on, Selim finds himself in a bewildered state with a bag full of money on his hands.
A Run for Money
1999
8.0The story of Taner, a lawyer who has problems with his aging wife, lives with his sister Saime, who is confined to a wheelchair, and is threatened and harassed because of his cases. Taner's personal and professional life continues in a tense environment as he has an affair with his closest friend's wife at his office. While trying to mend his troubled relationship with his wife, he is also troubled by documents handed over by a client involved in shady dealings. A gang is after these secret documents, which would cause chaos if made public. Saime, a loyal listener of Selma, who hosts a nighttime program on a local radio station, makes a suggestion to her brother. Taner joins Selma's program by phone at the insistence of his romantic, paralyzed sister, and an interesting relationship develops between Selma and Taner through the broadcast. Hundreds of people who listen to her heartfelt conversations every night, connecting with the radio studio, take an interest in this relationship.
Bir Erkeğin Anatomisi
1997
6.8Reha Erdem’s innovative group portrait of the inhabitants of an apartment building in Istanbul serves as a comic exploration of what it means to be human. The drama revolves around hapless taxi driver Ali, who suffers from amnesia as a result of an accident the cause of which he does not remember. As he struggles to regain his memory, his neighbors—embodying a variety of physical, mental, and emotional states—wrestle with their own difficulties, helping one another along the way.
Mommy, I'm Scared
2006
6.4Four 40-something friends are haunted by the violent past of a divided Cyprus. Temel wants desperately to speak about the crimes of vengeance he committed as a teenager. He would like to confess about the bodies buried in the muddy patch of a dried-up salt lake, but fear holds him back from even going there. Ali participates in Temel's UN projects aimed at defusing tension between Cyprus' Greek and Turkish communities....
Mud
2003
8.0Summer Love is a 2001 Turkish drama film directed and written by Barış Pirhasan with Gül Dirican.
O da Beni Seviyor
2001
6.7A man suspects his wife of being unfaithful, but he's not prepared for what her confession will do to him.
The Confession
2001