As he was born in 1939, Feyzi Tuna is a director who is now 71. Tuna, as a director of only 22 films, is perhaps a forgotten director because he has not been on the contemporary agenda. But could an artist's worth ever diminish over time? Would not the value of his works be recognized even in societies with a weaker social memory? I hope that this Cinema Honorary Award by the İstanbul Film Festival will carry this worthy artist into the limelight once again.

Tuna was born in Balıkesir and his passion for cinema took him to İstanbul and Yeşilçam. He started as a set worker, and learned the basics of the trade as Halit Refi€'s assistant. And in 1964, he embarked on his directing adventure with Aşka Susayanlar / Thirsty for Love. When localising films of foreign origin, he succeeded to rely on native elements, and made these films a part of ourselves. With 1970s, Feyzi Tuna's significant creative period begins. Now, he begins to adapt Turkish works, and occasionally important literary works, and shields himself from foreign influence.

Then come Tuna's urban films. His lens is suddenly turned from rural regions to petty and non-petty bourgeoisie. Yet his cinematic care, desire to create characters, and the tone of his criticism in his approach do not change. It has been the attempt of many of our directors to switch from village films to city films. Yet this sort of a subtle and soft transition is hard to come by. Kuyucaklı Yusuf / Yusuf from Kuyucak is perhaps his most ambitious film. After this film, he does not resume directing and thereby ends his career with these 22 films. No matter what, this sum of works is sufficiently interesting and prestigious. Feyzi Tuna's cinema, carefully dealing with villages and big cities without any discrimination, replaces an era's admiration of foreign cinema with an eye that turns to ourselves and our important writers, does not hesitate to tackle significant social issues, carefully selects and directs the actors, does not neglect certain aesthetic concerns, and obliges serious examination. This welldeserved award might promote such projects.
– Atilla Dorsay