Performer, Director, Film Maker
Derya Durmaz studied Economy, Human Rights Law and Acting. As an actress she worked with Persona Theatre from Athens and took stage in Greece, Turkey and Iran, with the plays “Clytemnestra’a Tears” and “And God Said”. She acted in over 10 feature films - such as “Blue Wave” which competed in 64th Berlinale - and many Turkish TV dramas which aired internationally.
In 2021, she received ‘Innovative Arts Project Funding’ from the BBK Bundesverband, with her interdisciplinary performance project "DDS! Discipline, Dominance, Submission” which she directed, devised and performed in. The performance was in the program of Performing Arts Festival Berlin and the Exp(L)o(RE) section of English Theatre Berlin’s EXPLORE festival. In 2021, she also participated in the performance project Ciegxs, funded by Strandbad Tegelsee gGmbH, as dramaturg, art director and performer.
Her first short film “Ziazan” received Armenia Turkey Cinema Platform Best Project Award, participated over 40 festivals and won 11 award. Her 2nd short film “Mother Virgin No More” premiered at the 65th Berlinale Generation 14plus Short Film Competition.
She was selected to Toronto Film Festival’s TIFF TALENT LAB, BERLINALE TALENTS, FIRST FILMS FIRST - GOETHE INSTITUT YOUNG DIRECTORS ACADEMY and FILM INDEPENDENT’s GLOBAL MEDIA MAKERS Program. Her 1st feature film project The Bus to Amerika won TALENT HIGHLIGHT AWARD of BERLINALE CO-PRODUCTION MARKET and was selected to be among Wscripted’s list of “Best 25 scripts in English language by female filmmakers to option at Cannes Film Festival 2021”.
In 2021, she received ‘Innovative Arts Project Funding’ from the BBK Bundesverband, with her interdisciplinary performance project "DDS! Discipline, Dominance, Submission”. The performance was in the program of Performing Arts Festival Berlin and the Exp(L)o(RE) section of English Theatre Berlin’s EXPLORE festival. In 2021, she also participated in the performance project Ciegxs, funded by Strandbad Tegelsee gGmbH, as dramaturg, art director and performer.