Mehmet Aktaş
Writer, Producer & Founder of mîtosfilmWriter, Producer & Founder of mîtosfilmWriter, Producer & Founder of mîtosfilm
Mehmet Aktaş is a writer and producer, and the founder of mîtosfilm. He was born in Iğdır, Turkey in 1970 and grew up in Istanbul.
While studying law, he worked as a journalist throughout the 1990s, including assignments as a war correspondent in the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. After leaving journalism, he began writing screenplays.
In 1996, Aktaş moved to Berlin, Germany, where he founded the distribution and production company mîtosfilm in 2004, focusing on international co-productions.
Together with Hisham Zaman, he co-wrote the screenplay for Letters to a King, which received the Best Norwegian Screenplay award and won the Amanda Prize.
He then co-wrote and produced Memories on Stone (2014) with Shawkat Amin Korki. The film won over 30 international awards, including:
- Best Film of the Arab World – Abu Dhabi Film Festival
- Best Film – 52nd Antalya International Film Festival
- UNESCO Prize – Asia Pacific Screen Awards
The film was also Iraq’s official submission for the Academy Awards.
During the ISIS war, Aktaş wrote and produced The Dark Wind (Reseba, 2016) by Hussein Hassan. It won:
- Best Muhr Fiction Feature – Dubai International Film Festival
- Grand Newcomer Award – Mannheim-Heidelberg
- UNESCO Prize for Human Rights
The film was also Iraq’s Oscar submission in 2018.
In the same year, he produced Soleen Yusef’s debut feature House Without a Roof, filmed in Duhok, Kurdistan. It won multiple international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize in Montreal and the First Steps Award in Germany.
Aktaş also produced the documentary The Legend of the Ugly King about filmmaker Yılmaz Güney, developed over 7 years with director Hüseyin Tabak. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the Granit Prize at the 51st Hof Film Festival.
His film The Exam (2021), directed by Shawkat Amin Korki and co-produced with Masti-Films, premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Crystal Globe Competition and won the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize.
Most recently, Aktaş produced In the Blind Spot (2023) by Ayşe Polat, which premiered at the 73rd Berlinale and won several international awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay at the German Film Awards 2024.
Currently, he is working on a new project in collaboration with Hüseyin Tabak and Afghan-French director Siddiq Barmak.
Mehmet Aktaş is a writer and producer, and the founder of mîtosfilm. He was born in Iğdır, Turkey in 1970 and grew up in Istanbul.
While studying law, he worked as a journalist throughout the 1990s, including assignments as a war correspondent in the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. After leaving journalism, he began writing screenplays.
In 1996, Aktaş moved to Berlin, Germany, where he founded the distribution and production company mîtosfilm in 2004, focusing on international co-productions.
Together with Hisham Zaman, he co-wrote the screenplay for Letters to a King, which received the Best Norwegian Screenplay award and won the Amanda Prize.
He then co-wrote and produced Memories on Stone (2014) with Shawkat Amin Korki. The film won over 30 international awards, including:
- Best Film of the Arab World – Abu Dhabi Film Festival
- Best Film – 52nd Antalya International Film Festival
- UNESCO Prize – Asia Pacific Screen Awards
The film was also Iraq’s official submission for the Academy Awards.
During the ISIS war, Aktaş wrote and produced The Dark Wind (Reseba, 2016) by Hussein Hassan. It won:
- Best Muhr Fiction Feature – Dubai International Film Festival
- Grand Newcomer Award – Mannheim-Heidelberg
- UNESCO Prize for Human Rights
The film was also Iraq’s Oscar submission in 2018.
In the same year, he produced Soleen Yusef’s debut feature House Without a Roof, filmed in Duhok, Kurdistan. It won multiple international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize in Montreal and the First Steps Award in Germany.
Aktaş also produced the documentary The Legend of the Ugly King about filmmaker Yılmaz Güney, developed over 7 years with director Hüseyin Tabak. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the Granit Prize at the 51st Hof Film Festival.
His film The Exam (2021), directed by Shawkat Amin Korki and co-produced with Masti-Films, premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Crystal Globe Competition and won the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize.
Most recently, Aktaş produced In the Blind Spot (2023) by Ayşe Polat, which premiered at the 73rd Berlinale and won several international awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay at the German Film Awards 2024.
Currently, he is working on a new project in collaboration with Hüseyin Tabak and Afghan-French director Siddiq Barmak.
Mehmet Aktaş is a writer and producer, and the founder of mîtosfilm. He was born in Iğdır, Turkey in 1970 and grew up in Istanbul.
While studying law, he worked as a journalist throughout the 1990s, including assignments as a war correspondent in the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. After leaving journalism, he began writing screenplays.
In 1996, Aktaş moved to Berlin, Germany, where he founded the distribution and production company mîtosfilm in 2004, focusing on international co-productions.
Together with Hisham Zaman, he co-wrote the screenplay for Letters to a King, which received the Best Norwegian Screenplay award and won the Amanda Prize.
He then co-wrote and produced Memories on Stone (2014) with Shawkat Amin Korki. The film won over 30 international awards, including:
- Best Film of the Arab World – Abu Dhabi Film Festival
- Best Film – 52nd Antalya International Film Festival
- UNESCO Prize – Asia Pacific Screen Awards
The film was also Iraq’s official submission for the Academy Awards.
During the ISIS war, Aktaş wrote and produced The Dark Wind (Reseba, 2016) by Hussein Hassan. It won:
- Best Muhr Fiction Feature – Dubai International Film Festival
- Grand Newcomer Award – Mannheim-Heidelberg
- UNESCO Prize for Human Rights
The film was also Iraq’s Oscar submission in 2018.
In the same year, he produced Soleen Yusef’s debut feature House Without a Roof, filmed in Duhok, Kurdistan. It won multiple international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize in Montreal and the First Steps Award in Germany.
Aktaş also produced the documentary The Legend of the Ugly King about filmmaker Yılmaz Güney, developed over 7 years with director Hüseyin Tabak. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the Granit Prize at the 51st Hof Film Festival.
His film The Exam (2021), directed by Shawkat Amin Korki and co-produced with Masti-Films, premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Crystal Globe Competition and won the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize.
Most recently, Aktaş produced In the Blind Spot (2023) by Ayşe Polat, which premiered at the 73rd Berlinale and won several international awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay at the German Film Awards 2024.
Currently, he is working on a new project in collaboration with Hüseyin Tabak and Afghan-French director Siddiq Barmak.
