Seher Karabol has spent her life supporting labour and labourers, devoting tremendous efforts for Turkish cinema to thrive and gain international recognition, and for the protection of intellectual property in Turkey. She was born in 1939. She graduated from American Robert College of Istanbul high school. She then went on to pursue an education in the Istanbul University’s Law and Journalism Faculties. She first crossed paths with cinema as a film importer, together with her husband, Üstün Karabol, in 1970. Later on, she and Onat Kutlar played an active role in allowing Turkish audience to view the uncensored works of Polish, Czechian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Romanian directors within the Turkish Cinémathèque Association. In 1974, together with Gülen Ataç, she founded the company Umut Sanat, whose logo was designed by her close friend Mengü Ertel. She represented authors such as Hasan İzzettin Dinamo, Orhan Asena, Güngör Dilmen, Kemal Bilbaşar, Yılmaz Güney, Çetin Altan, Rıfat Ilgaz, Nevzat Üstün, Sennur Sezer, Melisa Gürpınar or Kerim Korcan, paved the way for their works to be adapted to film and protected their intellectual property. She held the Ömer Faruk Toprak and Nevzat Üstün poetry competitions. She took upon herself to show Yılmaz Güney’s films abroad in spite of all the obstacles; thanks to her pioneering efforts, these films gained international recognition by being shown in the San Remo, Berlin and Locarno film festivals. Under her leadership as chairperson, the number of international companies represented in Turkey by Umut Sanat reached 150 by the year 1985. Umut Sanat is responsible for the distribution of more than 300 films (art house independent American productions for the most part.) She helped countless youngsters discover cinema by opening theatres in cities where there were none (especially in the vicinity of universities.) She carried this venture even further by undertaking the distribution of many artistic films. Eventually, in 1995, Umut Sanat brought about a new approach to local film production by undertaking that of İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında / Istanbul Beneath My Wings. She opened an animation department in 1997.