Suha Arın


Mustafa Suha Arın was a Turkish film director, writer, producer and educator. He was born in Balikesir, Turkey. He completed his primary and secondary education in Ankara. In 1965, he went to USA to receive his license degree on film directing from Howard University and his master's degree on mass communication from the American University. He also worked as a translating speaker and interviewer at the Voice of America Radio, and as the Washington DC reporter of Turkish Radio and Television. He returned to Turkey in 1974.
In his productive career lasting for 40 years, Suha Arın produced about 50 documentary films, many of which won national and international awards. Arın, who revealed the traditional and contemporary values of Turkey and Anatolian cultures in his films, also had an educator identity. He lectured at many universities over forty years and contributed to the education of many film-makers and academicians. He died at age 62 in Istanbul due to chronic heart failure.
Today, Suha Arın is commonly recognized as the grand old master of the Turkish documentary cinema, not only by his films but also by his unique approach to the education of documentary film-making.

Filmography

All types of films are shown as documentaries nowadays. These films either carry excessive artistic imagery, or, on the contrary, no artistic value at all. That's why the balance between art and science needs to be treated very carefully. When I make films, I constantly try to balance these two factors. I want to stress neither my artistic side nor my scientific side. I try to produce my work as I couple, integrate, fuse these two aspects.