Red River, Black Sheep

Ömer Lütfi Akad was born in Istanbul in 1916. He finished French Saint Jeanne d’ Arc School and Galatasaray High School and graduated from Istanbul College of Economics and Business. After working at Osmanlı Bank for a while, he served as an accountant in the Lale Film. He began writing plays for theater and films. He then worked as a financial consultant and film director in the Sema Film. In 1947 he started directing film with Seyfi Havaeri’s “Damga”. In 1949, Akad debuted as a film director with “Vurun Kahpeye” (Kill the Whore) an adaptation of Halide Edip Adıvar′s book. Akad attempted different kinds of themes: fiction (Tahir ile Zühre, 1951), detective story (Kanun Namına, 1952), adventure (İngiliz Kemal Lavrens′e Karşı, 1952), musical (Çalsın Sazlar Oynasın Kızlar, 1953), melodrama (Kalbimin Şarkısı, 1955), comedy (Cilalı İbo′nun Çilesi, 1957), documentary (Tanrı′nın Bağışı Orman, 1964), Anatolian folklore (Kızılırmak Karakoyun, 1967), love story (Vesikalı Yarim, 1968) and songs (Bir Teselli Ver, 1971).

Akad became one of the pioneers of the period in the “Director Generation”. The 1970s trilogy: Gerin (The Bride, 1973), Düğün (The Wedding, 1974) and Diyet (The Sacrifice, 1975) is considered his masterpiece. Afterwards, he withdrew from movie making instead directing adaptations for TV: Topuz, Ferman, Pembe İncili Kaftan, Diyet, Bir Ceza Avukatının Anıları, Dört Mevsim İstanbul. In 2009, Akad received an honorary award in the 16th Altın Koza Film Festival. He taught at the Cinema and TV Institute of the Mimar Sinan University.