The year is 1966… That was the first time we worked together in a film called Vatan Kurtaran Aslan / The Lion who Saved the Country, a co-production between Erman and Sine Films. He was playing Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. I was going to shoot a sequence from his profile. He smart-mouthed me by saying that his performance won’t come through if shot from the profile. He was right. I said, “do as I tell you.” It was apparent from his clenched jaw that he was irritated. That’s the day we became friends with Süleyman Turan. The year is 2015… We have never been apart. Süleyman is the actor I’ve worked the most with, and I’m the director he’s worked most with. He is one hell of an actor. He can play any part. He is a perfectionist who demands a reshoot when he doesn’t like his performance. Our great late cinematographer Kriton Ilyadis once said to me: “Tunç, you know this man is very cinematographic.” He is an actor, and a painter. He is famous for his comic books and comic strips. Also, for his inability to wake up early. He is my essential actor. He is the ever-young oldboy of the Turkish cinema and one of its treasures. Our cinema should be proud of having an actor such as Süleyman Turan. I know I am. -Tunç Başaran