Pelin Esmer

Pelin Esmer was born and grew up in Istanbul. After she majored in sociology in Istanbul, she attended the cinemaworkshop of the Turkish director Yavuz Ozkan. She worked as a first assistant director in a number of Turkish and foreign projects. She gave lectures about documentary film-making at Istanbul Kadir Has University in Istanbul. She founded her own film company, Sinefilm, in 2005 and currently produces her own projects as an independent director and producer together with her producer colleagues Tolga Esmer and Nida Karabol Akdeniz.

Her first documentary film, “The Collector” (2002) was screened in many festivals. Her first feature documentary “Oyun” (“The Play”) was premiered in San Sebastian Film Festival in 2005. It has been screened over 50 festivals around the world and received many awards including "The Best New Documentary Filmmaker Award" in Tribeca Film Festival. Her first feature “10 to 11” was one of the six chosen projects by Cannes Film Festival’s Résidence du Cinéfondation in Paris, where she worked on her script in 2007. An official selection of the San Sebastian Film Festival, "10 to 11" received many awards in various festivals around the world.

In 2012, she completed her 2'nd feature "Watchtower" which will be premiered in Toronto International Film festival.

Filmography