Her Name Is Vasfiye

Atıf Yılmaz Batıbeki (December 25, 1925 – May 5, 2006) was a renowned Turkish Kurdish film director, screenwriter and film producer. He was almost a legend in the film industry of Turkey with 119 movies directed. He also wrote 53 screenplays and produced 28 movies since 1951. He was active in almost every period of the Turkish film industry. Despite the numerous movies he directed, majority of those were qualified, and had a message to get through.

Atıf Yılmaz was born on December 25, 1925 in Mersin, Turkey to a Kurdish family originally from Palu. After finishing the high school in Mersin, he attended the Law School of Istanbul University. Because of his interest in arts, he dropped out the Law School and entered the Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul. After graduating from the Academy, he did some painting works in workshops. His education of painting helped him directing his movies as he remarked lately.

In his private life, he got married three times. His first wife was actress Nurhan Nur. After divorcing his second wife, the playwright Ayşe Şasa, he made his last marriage with Deniz Türkali, daughter of Vedat Türkali, a Turkish novelist, film script writer and film director. Atıf Yılmaz has a daughter, Kezban Arca (Batıbeki) from his first marriage.

In the beginnings, he worked as a film critic, made some paintings and wrote film scripts to earn a living. After co-directing two movies as an assistant director to Semih Evin in 1950, his directing career began with the film Kanlı Feryat (The Bloody Cry). In 1960, he established his film company “Yerli Film” with the actor Orhan Günşıray.

The most important movies in his filmography were: Hıçkırık (The Sob), Alageyik (The Fallow Deer), Suçlu (The Guilty One), Seni Kaybedersem (If I Lose You), Yaban Gülü (The Wild Rose), Keşanlı Ali Destanı (Kesanli Ali’s Epic), Taçsız Kral (The Crownless King), Toprağın Kanı (Blood of the Earth), Ölüm Tarlası (Death Field), Utanç (The Shame), Zavallılar (The Poor People), Selvi Boylum, Al Yazmalım (My Girl with the Red Scarf), Baskin (The Raid), Adak (The Sacrifice), Bir Yudum Sevgi (A Sip of Love), Adı Vasfiye (Her Name is Vasfiye), Berdel, Düş Gezginleri (Walking After Midnight), Eylül Fırtınası (After the Fall) and Mine.

He made movies both fluent and the ones with mainly social messages. Most of the theme of his movies were taboo in the days they have been taken. Particularly “Mine” and “Her Name is Vasfiye” were revolutions that time with their issue on the sexuality and the reaction of the society.

He never gave up making movies throughout his life, and even in the time when the industry stopped filmmaking due to economic reasons.

Atıf Yılmaz played an important role in the professional career of notable Turkish film directors like Halit Refiğ, Yılmaz Güney, Şerif Gören, Zeki Ökten and Ali Özgentürk.

During the Antalya Film Festival in September 2005, he was hospitaized due to gastro-intestinal complaints. He died on May 5, 2006 in İstanbul. —Wikipedia