Kazim Öz (born 1973, Dersim) is a Kurdish film director, scriptwriter and producer. In 1992 he began acting at Teatra Jiyana Nu, while also working on movies.
Early life and education
He studied civil engineering at the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, and following Television and Cinema at the Marmara University, from where he also received his master degree in 2003. His first documentary Destên Me Wê Bibin Bask Emê Bifirin Herin... was released in 1996. Since 1996, he was involved in the activities of the movie department of the Mesopotamia Culture Center, which today is known as the Mesopotamian Cinema Collective.
Professional career
Since 1996 until today he stayed attached to the films. His most acclaimed movies are Bahoz, Zer, Son Mevsim: Şavaklar (Documentary) amongst others. Kazim Öz's movies often get censored. The movie Ax got first censored and then banned by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, presented at the Visionaria festival (Siena, Italy) in 1999 by Dino Frisullo. The movie The Photograph was removed from a film festival in Poland due to the intervention of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, who was a sponsor of the Film Festival. Kazım Öz's movie Zer premiered at the 36th Istanbul Film Festival in April 2017. The movie included two censored scenes by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which he blacked out. In November 2018 he got detained by the Turkish authorities and charged with membership in an illegal organization, but released after two days. He then left Turkey. In September 2019 the Turkish juridical authorities made public that the prosecution seeks a sentence between seven and a half and fifteen years for Öz.[1]
Filmography
• Zer, 120 min (2017)
• Beyaz Çınar (White Scyamore), 83 min. (2016)
• Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş (Once Upon A Time), 80 min. (2014)
• Son Mevsim: Şavaklar (Last season), 90 min. (2010), with the support of Arte
• Bahoz (The Strom),155 min. (2008)
• Dûr (Distant), 74 min. (2005)
• The Fotograf, 67min. (2001)
• Ax (Toprak), (The Land), 27 min. (1999)
• Güneşe Yolculuk (Journey to the Sun), (1998)
• Destên Me Wê Bibin Bask Emê Bifirin Herin..., 27 min. (1996)