Ayşe Polat is an internationally acclaimed film director, screenplay writer and film producer. From 1991 to 1993, she studied German, philosophy and cultural studies in Berlin and Bremen. She started her career in the 1990s with a series of successful short films.

Her first feature film, “Auslandstournee“, was released in 1999. The film was shown at festivals in Karlsbad and Tokio and was awarded the Young Director’s Talent Prize in Ankara. Her second film “En Garde” (2004) opened the Locarno International Film Festival and was awarded Best Film and Best Actress. For some of her films – as „Luks Glück“ (2010), „Die Erbin“ (2013) and the documentary „The Others” (2015) – she also functioned as co-producer. In 2006, Polat also staged her first play “Otobüs” at the Berlin theatre Hebbel am Ufer.

As a director of films, which are associated with the so-called “Turkish-German cinema”, Ayşe Polat is particularly involved in questions that are crucial to Cinepoetics. This holds true especially with regard to questions about the political relevance of the poiesis of viewing films – a relevance that becomes apparent precisely when a position of minority is being related to the context of a hegemonistic culture.