About Nuri Bilge Ceylan Nuri Bilge Ceylan (born 26 January 1959 in Istanbul) is a Turkish photographer and film director. He is married to the filmmaker, photographer, and actress Ebru Ceylan, his co-star in İklimler (Climates).Life Ceylan learned photography at age 15, and developed an interest in film at 22. After graduating from Boğaziçi University with a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, he went on with his studies on cinema for two years at Mimar Sinan University. Ceylan's first short film Koza (Cocoon) was screened in the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. He received many awards with his debut feature Kasaba (Small Town). His third feature Uzak (Distant) received many awards including the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actor Prize at Cannes, and was praised internationally. His 2006 film Iklimler (Climates) won the FIPRESCI Movie Critics' Award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and received international praise by critics and experts. The film won 5 awards at the 2006 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, bringing him the "Best Director" title. During the preparation of this movie, Ceylan turned his attentions to photography again. He won the best director award in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for Üç Maymun (Three Monkeys). At the end of his speech, Ceylan stated, "I dedicate this award to my beautiful and lonely country, which I love passionately." Ceylan has been selected as a juror for the International Competition in 2009 Cannes Film Festival . He won the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing. Style Ceylan's films have often been described as high art. He deals with the estrangement of the individual, natural existentialism, monotonous real human lives and fundamental details of life. He uses static shoots and long takes, usually in natural ambiance, as well as menacing silences along his "stream-of-consciousness aesthetics". He is known for filming his protagonist from behind which, in his view leaves the audiences to speculate on the brooding emotions of characters whose faces are obscured. Having started his career as a photographer, Ceylan makes films on an extremely low budget. His casts generally consist of amateur actors, most of which are his family members, including his mother and father. The characters in Ceylan's movies appear to be people from everyday life.