Deniz Gamze Ergüven (b. 1978, Ankara) was born in Turkey but spent much of her youth in the United States and in France, where she graduated from the prestigious La Fémis film school. Her short graduation film Bir damla su (2006) – another film about women's struggle against the authoritarian and patriarchal tendencies in Turkish society – was well received and was shown as part of the Cinéfondation section at Cannes. Shortly thereafter, it won the prestigious Leopards of Tomorrow award for young artists in Locarno. Most recently, she was working on a feature-length debut about the infamous riots in Los Angeles following a case of police violence in 1992. She postponed work on that film to make Mustang (2015), which was premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section at this year's festival in Cannes.
50. MFF Karlovy Vary
