Bülent Öztürk

Bülent Öztürk (1975 in Bağlarbaşı, Urfa, Turkey) is a Belgian-Kurdisch screenwriter and director based in Antwerp, Belgium. His films have been nominated for and celebrated with several (international) awards. His films stand out because of their minimalist and documentary style with spare use of dialogue and the recurrence of socially and culturally concerned themes. His short film Houses with Small Windows (2013) was awarded the title of best European short film at the Venice Film Festival, and was nominated for the 26th European Film Awards in Berlin. In his home country the film received an ‘Ensor’ for best short film at the Ostend Film Festival. Apart from writing and directing two documentaries and three short films, Öztürk presented his first feature film Blue Silence in 2017, with the support of The Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF).Blue Silence caught international attention at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it won the Fedora Prize (awarded by the Federation of European and Mediterranean Film Critics). At its world premiere at the Instanbul Film Festival, the films won the award of Best Debut and Best Screenplay, alongside winning the Special Jury Prize, and receiving an honorary mention for the Film Award FACE in the category Human Rights, awarded by the European Council. At the Duhok International Film Festival, Blue Silence won the awards of Best Film in Diaspora and Best Scenario.