Promising young director's film at Istanbul Film Festival

The debut feature length of director İlker Çatak, who is the guest artist of Tarabya Culture Academy, "Once Upon a Time in Indian Country," is included in the "Young Masters" category of 37th Istanbul Film Festival, to be shown on April 13, 14 and 15.

İlker Çatak's debut feature-length movie, "Once Upon a Time in Indian Country" was adapted to screen from Nils Mohl's novel with the same name. The movie received positive criticism in Germany and some cinema critiques resembled it to Quentin Tarantino movies and Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting." The movie is about the adventures of 17-year-old Mauser, full of love, excitement and music in the suburbs of Hamburg. While preparing for a boxING match he hopes will change his life, he also has to impress Jackine, whom she met at a party and fell in love with, and the troubles caused by his father. İlker Çatak's short movie "Sadakat" ("Loyalty") won the Student Academy Award and was included in Kino 2016's program.

Born in 1984, the director İlker Çatak continues his life in Berlin. After graduating from Istanbul German High School, he received film and television directing training in Berlin. He wrote the script of his first feature length movie with the scholarship from Bavaria Radio Television in 2011. His short film "Wo Wir Sind" received the Murnau Foundation Short-Film Award and Max-Ophüls Award in 2014. He also became one of the 10 finalists of the 41st Student Academy awards. His other movie "Loyalty" was awarded with the 2015 Golden Student Oscar and with First Step Awards. "Once Upon a Time in Indian Country," his first feature-length film, premiered in February 2017 at Hamburg Film Festival.

İlker Çatak was in Istanbul as the guest artist of Tarabya Culture Academy between Sept. And Dec. 2017.