Born in Istanbul in 1941, Zeki Ökten is a graduate of the Haydarpaşa High School. He started working in theatre when a student, but his hearth was in films. In 1961 he realised his dream, when he entered Yeşilçam (Turkish Hollywood) as assistant co-director Nişan Hançer in the film Acı Zeytin / Bitter Olive. The masters he has worked with as assistant are Lütfi Ö. Akad, Halit Refiğ, Memduh Ün, and, in particular, Atıf Yılmaz. Ökten directed his first feature film, Ölüm Tuzağı / Death Trap, in 1963. However, it did not prove to be "A Zeki Ökten film"; obviously, he was not ready yet. In the circumstances of the period, this '"first film" could not surpass being ordinary. His accumulation of only a few years of experience was not sufficient year. Zeki Ökten would only prove his craftsmanship in the years to come. His second stint as assistant director took nine years and in 1972, he returned to directing with Kadın Yapar / Woman Does It and this time it drew attention. Even though he would show some commercial movies made on order in between, Bir Demet Menekşe / A Bouquet of Violets he directed in 1973 was a small "breakthrough" for Zeki Ökten.
Zeki Ökten is one of the "second generation new filmmakers", coming after the generation of his masters. His aim was to create a careful trail in this direction without submitting to the conditions of the period. White having adopted a realistic point of view in films like Askerin Dönüşü / Return of the Soldier (1974), Sürü / The Herd (1978), Düşman / The Enemy (1979), in others like Kapıcılar Kralı / King of Doormen and Çöpçüler Kralı / The King of the Street Cleaners, in which Kemal Sunal stars, and Faize Hücum / Rush on Interest, he succeeded to endow the format of comedy with social criticism. Ökten would finally hit the target which these two films, even though he progressed slowly. And it is The Herd which was the first frightfully good bullet aimed at the target. The Herd is in fact not only a masterpiece of Zeki Ökten, but one of the "masterpieces" in the history of Turkish cinema. Its script flowing like a wild river was written by Yılmaz Güney, but its creator is Zeki Ökten. Ökten participated in many major international festivals with this film that had also drawn attention abroad and cook a total of 11 awards and Ökten entered the most fruitful stage of his career as a result of his collaboration.
Zeki Ökten is nor one of those demagogue directors we have become familiar with for years, and he is nor self-promoter at all. Despite all the positive work, he is a director who avoids sticking out, silent in his introverted world, who only speaks through his films.
-Agâh Özgüç
