Born in Istanbul in 1961, the son of a diplomat, Kutluğ Ataman filmed events of the 1980 coup, was imprisoned and tortured, and left Turkey in 1981 for California, where he took a BA and MFA in film. He is known both as a video artist and as a feature director. His early work looks at how people construct identity through self-expression; he is openly gay and sexual identity is a frequent theme. Lola+Bilidikid (1998) won a special jury prize at Berlin, 2 Girls (2005) won the Golden Orange for best director, and The Lamb (2014) won best film and best director at Antalya.
Filmography
- Karanlık Sular (1994)
- Lola+Bilidikid (1998)
- İki Genç Kız (2005)
- Aya Yolculuk (2009)
- Kuzu (2014)