Turkish director invited to Toronto Talent Lab

Actress and director Derya Durmaz became the first filmmaker from Turkey to be invited to the Toronto Film Festival Talent Lab.

Durmaz has been invited to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Talent Lab, which will be held Sept. 7-12 as part of the Toronto Film Festival. The laboratory, which accepts "20 Promising Film Makers of the Future" from many applications around the world, aims to provide support for participants to help them improve their capacities and develop products that are both creative and achieve commercial success under the leadership of world famous representatives from the film industry.

The TIFF Talent Lab will be headed by director Wim Wenders. Durmaz will also show her first full-length project, "Amerika Otobüsü" (American Bus), to potential co-producers and distribution representatives in industry meetings.

For the TIFF Talent Lab, 10 of the 20 participants are Canadian citizens, while the other 10 participants are new international talents that have recently made a breakthrough.

Juliette Binoche, Jane Campion, Michael Haneke, Gus Van Sant, Danny Boyle and Claire Denis are among the previous educators and guest speakers in the lab.

Durmaz took part in the production of some popular Turkish TV series, such as "Ihlamurlar Altında" (Under the Linden Trees), "Tövbeler Tövbesi" (Never Ever) and "Bugünün Saraylısı" (The Noble of Today). She also wrote and directed two short films: "Ziazan," which won more than 10 awards in international festivals, and "Gri Bölge" (Grey Area), which had its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival this year.