Bilge Olgaç — Director | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Bilge Olgaç was born on 10 January 1940 in Vize district of Kirklareli. While she was in the last year of Nisantsi Girls' Institute, she married Vecdi Bender, a former production supervisor, and dropped out of school.

After her husband took "Kismetin En Güzeli", one of the stories written by Bilge Olgac, to Memduh Ün in 1962, he hired her as his assistant in addition to making films. Thanks to her master Memduh Ün, he learn script writing and editing techniques. He was also the first assistant of the famous director.

Bilge Olgac started her career in cinema in 1962 with the film "Kismetin En Güzeli" as an assistant to director Memduh Ün. He also worked as an assistant to directors such as Ilhan Engin, Halit Refig and Hasan Kazankaya.

In 1965, Bilge Olgac made her directorial debut with the film "Üçünüzü de Mihlarim" and became the only female director of this period. In 1970, she directed the film "Linc" starring Demir Karahan, Fatma Karanfil, Süheyl Egriboz and Ali Sen. She won many awards with this film.

In 1975, she started making commercial films. In 1984, she returned to cinema with the film "Spoon Enemy", starring Perihan Savas, Mesut Engin, Halil Ergün, Aliye Rona, Seden Kiziltunc, Ismet Ay. She won many awards with this film.

The line of Bilge Olgac's next films was also determined. In films such as "Gülüsan", "Gömlek" and "Umut Hep Vardi", women's problems are touched upon. Mostly, life in towns and villages outside the big city is depicted in her films. Bilge Olgac made a cinema based on the Yesilcam tradition. With ambitious films such as "Uc Halka Yirmibes", "Ipekce", "Kursun Adres Sormaz", she made her name known again.

In 1984, she directed the film "Yavrularim", produced by Selim Soydan and starring Hülya Kocyigit and Çetin Tekindor.

In 1956, at the age of 16, she made her first marriage with Vecdi Bender. She has a son from this marriage. They divorced.

Bilge Olgac died on 3 March 1994 in Istanbul at the age of 54 as a result of a fire in her house in Taksim.

She had just finished a new film in those days, her last film, "Bir Yanimiz Bahar Bahçe", was released after her death. The film told the story of a man, played by Halil Ergün and Sibel Turnagöl, who was imprisoned for 18 years for thought crime.