Biography
Yılmaz Güney (born Yılmaz Pütün) was a Turkish-Kurdish film director, screenwriter, actor and novelist. He was born on 1 April 1937 in Yenice, Yüreğir, Adana, Turkey, and died on 9 September 1984 in Paris, France.
He rose to prominence in the Turkish film industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Güney is known for directing Umut (Hope, 1970) and co-directing Sürü (The Herd, 1978). He wrote the screenplay for Yol (The Road, 1982) while imprisoned and co-directed the film with Şerif Gören; it won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1982. He also received editing credit on the film. Güney was frequently in conflict with Turkish authorities over his depictions of working-class life and Kurdish culture.
