Atıf Yılmaz

Directing

Atıf Yılmaz

Born 1925-12-09 · Turkey

Atıf Yılmaz Batıbeki (9 December 1925 – 5 May 2006) was a renowned Turkish film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was very much a legend in the film industry of Turkey with 119 movies directed. He also wrote 53 screenplays and produced 28 movies since 1951. He was active in most every period of the Turkish film industry. After finishing high school in Mersin, he attended the Law School of Istanbul University. Because of his interest in arts, he dropped out of Law School and entered the Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul. After graduating from the Academy, he did some painting works in workshops. His education in painting helped him when he was directing his movies, as he once remarked. In the beginning, he worked as a film critic, made paintings and wrote film scripts to earn a living. After co-directing two movies as an assistant director to Semih Evin in 1950, his directing career began with the film Kanli Feryat (The Bloody Cry). In 1960, he established his film company "Yerli Film" with the actor Orhan Günsiray. The most important movies in his filmography were: Hickirik (The Sob), Alageyik (The Fallow Deer), Suclu (The Guilty One), Seni Kaybedersem (If I Lose You), Yaban Gülü (The Wild Rose), Kesanli Ali Destani (Kesanli Ali's Epic), Tacsiz Kral (The Crownless King), Topragin Kani (Blood of the Earth), Olum Tarlasi (Death Field), Utanc (The Shame), Zavallilar (The Poor People), Selvi Boylum, Al Yazmalim (My Girl with the Red Scarf), Baskin (The Raid), Adak (The Sacrifice), Bir Yudum Sevgi (A Sip of Love), Adi Vasfiye (Her Name is Vasfiye), Berdel, Düs Gezginleri (Walking After Midnight), Eylül Firtinasi (After the Fall) and Mine. He made movies that were both fluent and had mainly social messages. Most of the themes of his movies were taboo when they were produced. Particularly "Mine" and "Her Name is Vasfiye" were both revolutionary at the time of their release with themes regarding sexuality and the reaction of society. He never gave up making movies throughout his life and even in the time when the industry stopped filmmaking due to economic reasons. Atif Yilmaz played an important role in the professional career of notable Turkish film directors like Halit Refig, Yilmaz Güney, Serif Gören, Zeki Ökten and Ali Özgentürk. During the Antalya Film Festival in September 2005, he was admitted to hospital with gastro-intestinal complaints. He died on 5 May 2006 in Istanbul.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Walking After Midnight poster
4.3

Newly divorced Nilgün, a doctor from Istanbul, is sent to a remote small town to practice; where she meets up with long lost friend Havva while treating local prostitutes.

Walking After Midnight

1992

Walking After Midnight poster
4.3

Newly divorced Nilgün, a doctor from Istanbul, is sent to a remote small town to practice; where she meets up with long lost friend Havva while treating local prostitutes.

Walking After Midnight

1992

The Bloody Cry poster
9.0

The story of a young man who took refuge in a sheikhs farm, then slandered by his wife.

The Bloody Cry

1951

Borrowed Bride poster
6.3

Ali is 18. His feet are firmly off the ground. The very idea of marriage seems like a game. But the bride's parents are ready and willing. Business ventures will be set up between the families; the arrangement will pay off all round. Ali, meanwhile, is more interested in playing with puppets and dressing up as a rooster for the travelling theatre. His fiancée has only so much patience... So what should his parents do? What was that? Hire a Borrowed Bride? Meaning exactly what? Well just that: borrow a bride, as the title of the film suggests......

Borrowed Bride

2005

Sugar Pie Lady poster
7.5

In the harsh times of the small time crime in Istanbul, a conscientious police officer Cumali is recognized by the police chief Ziver Bey who sees Cumali as a threat and matches him with Sekerpare, a famous harlot.

Sugar Pie Lady

1983

Taçsız Kral poster
6.8

No synopsis available yet.

Taçsız Kral

1965

Persecution poster
9.0

Ayla is a conservatory student. Through a coincidence, she meets Tarık, a famous composer. They fall in love and soon become engaged. On a trip abroad, Tarık experiences one of Ayla's biggest traumas. This disaster will affect the fate of the duo in a bad way.

Persecution

1972

Köroğlu poster
6.9

The epic tells about the life and heroic deeds of Koroghlu (literally "son of the blind man") as a hero of the people who struggled against unjust rulers, defending his clan or tribe.

Köroğlu

1968

The Forgotten Woman poster
9.0

Zeynep, a member of a gang of professional thieves, is tasked with seducing the chosen victims. The new victim of the group is Kenan Hanoglu, a composer.

The Forgotten Woman

1971

After the Fall poster
5.3

In the early days of the September 12 military coup, five-year-old Metin waits for his mother, singing to himself as he looks out the window. But his mother, Ayten, has been arrested and sent to prison. Since the child is alone at home, they take him to his mother in her cell, but despite all her jokes and games, Metin is aware of what is happening. The next day, Metin's grandfather Hüseyin Efe, who lives on Bozcaada, comes to take him, and Metin's days of freedom on the island begin. His friends exclude him because of the "communist" label his mother has been given. Yet Metin cannot even properly say the word "communist." Metin, affected by the exclusion, has another concern: his father’s photo is also on the “Wanted” posters hanging all over the island.

After the Fall

1999

Feyzo, The Polite One poster
7.9

To bid for his beloved's hand in marriage, poor villager Feyzo must come up with an enormous dowry to appease her father.

Feyzo, The Polite One

1978

The Second Wife poster
7.5

A peasant woman who cannot bear children for her husband agrees to take in a concubine as a result of pressure from her community and finds the concubine herself. The new woman is also unable to bear children. However, the first woman becomes pregnant in the meantime. The jealous concubine slanders her, and the villagers tie the woman they call a "whore" to a tree to kill her. Her husband arrives in time to rescue her, and they leave the village.

The Second Wife

1974

The Second Wife poster
7.5

A peasant woman who cannot bear children for her husband agrees to take in a concubine as a result of pressure from her community and finds the concubine herself. The new woman is also unable to bear children. However, the first woman becomes pregnant in the meantime. The jealous concubine slanders her, and the villagers tie the woman they call a "whore" to a tree to kill her. Her husband arrives in time to rescue her, and they leave the village.

The Second Wife

1974

Mill Horse poster
7.1

Ali, an honest and honorable man, moves to Istanbul when he is transferred there. He moves in with his sister Hacer and brother-in-law Yakup. Yakup's niece Ayşe also lives in the same house. From the day he starts his job as a civil servant, Ali reacts against the swindlers and bribe-takers around him. As a result, his boss and other civil servants become uncomfortable with the situation. When Yakup runs away with the money he collected to build a mosque, Ali and Ayşe are left alone. Not wanting to leave each other, the two get married. Ali is fired from his job for preventing the civil servants from taking bribes and goes to the village with Ayşe. Yakup, who has fled to Istanbul, calls Ali and Ayşe to join him at his insistence. Ali and his family, who go to Yakup's side out of desperation, will never be able to escape their troubles.

Mill Horse

1982

Mill Horse poster
7.1

Ali, an honest and honorable man, moves to Istanbul when he is transferred there. He moves in with his sister Hacer and brother-in-law Yakup. Yakup's niece Ayşe also lives in the same house. From the day he starts his job as a civil servant, Ali reacts against the swindlers and bribe-takers around him. As a result, his boss and other civil servants become uncomfortable with the situation. When Yakup runs away with the money he collected to build a mosque, Ali and Ayşe are left alone. Not wanting to leave each other, the two get married. Ali is fired from his job for preventing the civil servants from taking bribes and goes to the village with Ayşe. Yakup, who has fled to Istanbul, calls Ali and Ayşe to join him at his insistence. Ali and his family, who go to Yakup's side out of desperation, will never be able to escape their troubles.

Mill Horse

1982

Şimal Yıldızı poster
8.0

The film tells the story of a Turkish platoon serving in the Korean War. First Lieutenant Kemal is sent to Korea on a mission to learn the enemy's routes of operation. He sets out with a group of soldiers. They take up position at the farm of Can Bey, who lives in the area they have arrived at. The reconnaissance team discovers that the enemy is preparing for an operation. Lieutenant Kemal and his soldiers will attempt to thwart the enemy by making the necessary plans.

Şimal Yıldızı

1954

Yaban Gülü poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Yaban Gülü

1961

Bitter Memories poster
8.0

Emel works at Osman's club. There she meets Kemal and they fall in love. They decide to get married. Kemal's man Mahmut, gets Kemal into a pretended drugs business and causes Kemal to go to Tehran. Kemal writes letters to Emel but they are kept by Mahmut and Emel never sees them. Mahmut calls Kemal to Istanbul.

Bitter Memories

1977

İbo and Güllüşah poster
5.7

A poor villager who cannot marry the girl he loves because he cannot afford a bride-price, follows her to Istanbul. But he is unable to raise the money and appear in front of his father. Meanwhile, his friendship with a little girl he meets by chance complicates everything. Seeking attention from her family, the girl tells the young man to kidnap her for ransom. In this way, both she will test whether she is loved or not, and the poor boy will get the girl he loves and wants to marry thanks to the ransom. But things turn into a tangle in an instant.

İbo and Güllüşah

1977

İbo and Güllüşah poster
5.7

A poor villager who cannot marry the girl he loves because he cannot afford a bride-price, follows her to Istanbul. But he is unable to raise the money and appear in front of his father. Meanwhile, his friendship with a little girl he meets by chance complicates everything. Seeking attention from her family, the girl tells the young man to kidnap her for ransom. In this way, both she will test whether she is loved or not, and the poor boy will get the girl he loves and wants to marry thanks to the ransom. But things turn into a tangle in an instant.

İbo and Güllüşah

1977

Unmade Bed poster
3.0

Meryem, who opposes male domination and behaves very strictly to her hired lovers, falls in love with Ismail, who works as a waitress at an invitation she attends.

Unmade Bed

1984

Günahsızlar poster
NR

The film tells the story of a young man whose life is turned upside down after committing a murder. Kemal is a successful architect. He discovers that his girlfriend has been cheating on him with Ökkeş, the owner of a casino. Kemal is brutally beaten by Ökkeş's men, but he takes his revenge by killing Ökkeş. Although the young man is acquitted in court, his conscience is not at ease. He takes in Ökkeş's young daughter, who is left behind. However, the crime he committed in the past will not leave Kemal alone.

Günahsızlar

1972

Dolandırıcılar Şahı poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Dolandırıcılar Şahı

1960

Dolandırıcılar Şahı poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Dolandırıcılar Şahı

1960