Sibel Kekilli

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Sibel Kekilli

Sibel Kekilli at the 2006 Antalya Film Festival
Born 16 June 1980 (1980-06-16) (age 31)
Heilbronn, West Germany
Nationality German[1]
Occupation Actress
Years active 2003-present

Sibel Kekilli (born 16 June 1980) is a German actress of Turkish descent. She gained public attention after starring in the 2004 film Head-On (German: Gegen die Wand). For her performances, she was awarded twice with the most prestigious German movie award, the Lola.

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[edit] Life and career

Kekilli was born and raised in Heilbronn, then in West Germany, to a family of Turkish origin. Her parents had come to West Germany from Turkey in 1977, and were described by Kekilli as fairly liberal.[2] After leaving school at age 16, she worked for two years for the local city government, then moved to Essen, where she worked various jobs.

One day in 2002 while at a Cologne shopping mall, she was noticed by a casting director, who called her up for an audition for a role in a movie.[3] Sibel won the leading role for Fatih Akın's planned movie against a field of 350 other hopefuls. This film, Head-On, (German: Gegen die Wand) was released in 2004 and was a major public success, receiving several prizes at film festivals. Filming proved strenuous for Kekilli personally, however, and she underwent an appendectomy during the filming in Turkey.[4] After the movie, she had a rhinoplasty.[2]

Shortly after the release of Head-On, the German tabloid newspaper Bild-Zeitung revealed, in a sensationalist tone, that she had previously acted in pornographic films using the stage name "Dilara".[5] This report led to a public scandal. Kekilli's parents broke off all contact.[2] She received the 2004 Bambi prize for best "shooting star" for her role in Head-On; during the televised acceptance speech, she tearfully complained about the "dirty smear campaign" and "media rape" against her.[6] The Bild-Zeitung was later reprimanded for the coverage by the Deutscher Presserat, the self-control institution of German publishers.

Kekilli starred in the Turkish coup d'état movie Eve Dönüş (2006), playing the wife of a man who was unjustly imprisoned and tortured. The performance won her the Best Actress award at the 2006 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. Also that year she played a Jewish woman on the way to the Auschwitz concentration camp in the 2006 German movie Der letzte Zug (The last train).

In 2009, she played Umay in Feo Aladag's When We Leave (Die Fremde), a young Turkish woman who leaves Istanbul to return to her family in Berlin. Kekilli was awarded the Lola for Best Actress in 2010 for her leading role in this film.[7]

In 2010, Kekilli was cast as Shae in HBO's Game of Thrones, an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels.[8]

In 2011, one year after appearing first as a supporting role in the renowned crime film series Tatort, she became a permanent member as the new investigator "Sarah Brandt" working alongside chief investigator Borowski played by Axel Milberg.[9] She said that she was glad not to play a role with a foreign descent.[10] That aspect has been rather uncommon in Germany, since most of the actors with Turkish origin have each been playing roles of the same character.

[edit] Personal life

Kekilli currently lives in Hamburg. She supports the organization Terre des Femmes in their work against violence in families with Islamic background. In December 2006, at an anti-domestic violence event of the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet in Berlin, she stated "I have experienced myself that physical and psychological violence is seen as normal in Muslim families. Unfortunately violence belongs to the culture in Islam." This caused the Turkish consul general to leave the room.[11]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Malzahn, Claus Christian (6 March 2007). "Schauspielerin Sibel Kekilli: "Ich bin mir sicher, dass ich irgendwann aus Deutschland wegziehe"". Der Spiegel. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,468051,00.html. Retrieved 4 March 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c "Sibel Kekilli Biografie" (in German), Yahoo Movies, http://de.movies.yahoo.com/schauspieler/k/sibel-kekilli/biografie-33775.html, retrieved 2009-12-05 
  3. ^ "Man erkennt sich" (in German), Welt am Sonntag, 2004-03-07, http://www.welt.de/print-wams/article107278/Man_erkennt_sich.html 
  4. ^ Gegen die Wand-Presseheft polyfilm.at, page 6.(German)
  5. ^ "Culture & Lifestyle: From Bare to Bear for Ex-Porn Queen", Deutsche Welle, 2004-02-18, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1118125,00.html, retrieved 2007-10-20 
  6. ^ "Goldene Rehkitze für Hanks, Kekilli und Elton John" (in German), Spiegel Online, 2004-11-19, http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,328641,00.html 
  7. ^ Vogel, Elke (2010-04-23). ""Das weiße Band" räumt bei Gala zehn Lolas ab" (in German). Die Welt. http://www.welt.de/kultur/article7311221/Das-weisse-Band-raeumt-bei-Gala-zehn-Lolas-ab.html. Retrieved 2010-04-24. 
  8. ^ Not A Blog – You Guys Are Scary Good, the Sequel
  9. ^ Koch, Dorit (2011-10-02). "Kieler Tatort-Duo: Sibel Kekilli, die Neue an der Seite von Axel Milberg" (in German). Die Welt. http://www.welt.de/fernsehen/article13630861/Sibel-Kekilli-die-Neue-an-der-Seite-von-Axel-Milberg.html. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  10. ^ "Sibel Kekilli: "Tatort"-Rolle ist Ritterschlag" (in German). Focus. 2010-08-12. http://www.focus.de/kultur/kino_tv/medien-sibel-kekilli-tatort-rolle-ist-ritterschlag_aid_540479.html. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  11. ^ "Eklat um Sibel Kekilli in Berlin" (in German), Der Tagesspiegel, 2006-12-04, http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/art270,1944857 
  12. ^ "When We Leave Scores Top Honors At Tribeca Film Festival". New York Magazine. 2010-04-29. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/04/when_we_leave_scores_top_award.html. Retrieved 2010-05-15. 

[edit] External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Ursula Werner		 German Film Award for Best Actress
2010
for Die Fremde		 Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by
Beste Bereket		 Golden Orange Award for Best Actress
2006
for Eve Dönüş		 Succeeded by
Özgü Namal
Preceded by
Hannelore Elsner		 German Film Award for Best Actress
2004
for Gegen die Wand		 Succeeded by
Julia Jentsch

Türkan Şoray (1964) · Fatma Girik (1965) · Selma Güneri (1966) · Fatma Girik (1967) · Türkan Şoray (1968) · Hülya Koçyiğit (1969) · Belgin Doruk (1970) · Filiz Akın (1971) · Zeynep Aksu (1972) · Hülya Koçyiğit (1973) · Perihan Savaş (1974) · Hülya Koçyiğit (1975) · Adile Naşit (1976) · Semra Özdamar (1977) · Hale Soygazi (1978) · Sevda Ferdağ (1979) · Melike Demirağ / Güngör Bayrak (1980) · Meral Orhonsay (1981) · Nur Sürer (1982) · Hülya Koçyiğit (1983) · Hale Soygazi (1984) · Zuhal Olcay (1985) · Müjde Ar (1986) · Türkan Şoray (1987) · Gülşen Bubikoğlu (1988) · Nur Sürer (1989) · Hülya Koçyiğit (1990) · Sumru Yavrucuk (1991) · Lale Mansur (1992) · Müjde Ar (1993) · Türkan Şoray (1994) · Zuhal Gencer (1995) · Yasemin Alkaya / Hande Ataizi (1996) · Derya Alabora (1997) · Yelda Reynaud (1998) · Başak Köklükaya (1999) · Sanem Çelik (2000) · Demet Akbağ / Yeşim Salkım (2001) · Meral Oğuz (2002) · Meltem Cumbul (2003) · Tülin Özen (2004) · Beste Bereket / Vildan Atasever (2005) · Sibel Kekilli (2006) · Özgü Namal (2007) · Nurgül Yeşilçay (2008) · Nergis Öztürk (2009) · Claudia Cardinale (2010) · Devin Özgür Çınar (2011)
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