Kazim Öz (born 1973 in Dersim)[1] is a Kurdish film director, scriptwriter and producer.[2] In 1992 he began acting at Teatra Jiyana Nû, while also working on movies.[1]
Early life and education
Kazim Öz lived in the countryside in the Dersim region until he was seventeen years old.[3] In his childhood he took care of the families goats.[3] He studied civil engineering at the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul,[4] and following Television and Cinema at the Marmara University, from where he also received his master's degree in 2003.[5] His first documentary Destên Me Wê Bibin Bask Emê Bifirin Herin... was released in 1996.[1] Since 1996, he was involved in the activities of the movie department of the Mesopotamia Culture Center, which today is known as the Mesopotamian Cinema Collective.[6]
Professional career
Since 1996 until today he stayed attached to the films. His most acclaimed movies are Bahoz, Zer, Son Mevsim: Şavaklar (Documentary) amongst others.[1] Kazim Öz's movies often get censored. The movie Ax got first censored and then banned by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.[7] When the film was to be shipped from Turkey to Europe, the courier was detained and suspected of being a sympathizer of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),[3] which is an illegal organization in Turkey. Following the film having been screened successfully on several European festivals, the ban on the film Ax was also lifted in Turkey.[3] The movie The Photograph was removed from a film festival in Poland due to the intervention of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, who was a sponsor of the Film Festival.[7] Kazım Öz's movie Zer premiered at the 36th Istanbul Film Festival in April 2017. The movie included two censored scenes by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which he blacked out.[7] In November 2022, his film Elif Ana premiered in Paris.[8]
Prosecution
In November 2018 he was detained by the Turkish authorities and charged with membership in an illegal organization, but released after two days.[9] He then left Turkey. In September 2019 the Turkish juridical authorities made public that the prosecution seeks a sentence between seven and a half and fifteen years for Öz.[10]
Filmography
Elif Ana,123 min (2022)
Bir Kar Tanesinin Ömrü (The Life of a Snowflake), 110 min (2022)
