Nurşen Bakır

Nurşen Bakır (1962) is a Turkish filmmaker, known for experimental and documentary work. She studied philosophy at Hacettepe University before moving to the United States to study film, earning a BA from City University of New York (1991) and an MA from San Francisco State University (2002). She collaborated on Frans van de Staak’s Sepio (1996) and has directed 16 mm films including Fırat’ın Sesler [Sounds of Euphrates] (1990), Thrift (1995), Partisans (2001), Gıyaben [In Absentia] (2008), and Karık (2013). She teaches in the Film and Television Department at Istanbul Bilgi University and produces documentaries with the Sine‑Yol collective, including Köyü Kaybettik (2011) and Şu Fatsa’nın Yolları (2021).

Three Travelers Watch a Sunrise
Nurşen Bakır, 2025
ARTICLE
19.11.2025
EN

From [Frans van de Staak], I learned not only how to make films but also how to be determined in doing so. He was open, unassuming, modest, but very strong. He was one of those rare people whose life and art matched perfectly. He spoke very little. He would laugh and say, “I started talking very late; my mother took me to the doctor for that.” Yes, his films tend to be modestly silent, but they could delve deeply into what he was telling, reaching the very essence of the subject, without any bombast.

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