Biography

Onat Kutlar (25 January 1936 – 11 January 1995) was a prominent Turkish writer and poet, founder of the Turkish Sinematek and cofounder of the Istanbul International Film Festival. Onat Kutlar was born in Alanya, Turkey, on 25 January 1936. He was the grandson of Arif Pasha, an Ottoman governor of the Taif district and the son of Ali Riza Bey, a penal judge of the young Turkish Republic and later a farmer, and Meliha Hanim.

He was raised in Gaziantep. He studied law at Istanbul University and philosophy in Paris. His book, Ishak (1959), composed of nine short stories, most of which are written from the point of view of a child and are often surrealistic and mystical was the recipient of the 1960 "Turkish Language Association Short Story Award". According to the literary critic Fethi Naci, these short stories represent a very early example of magical realism genre. In 1985, he was a member of the jury at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1994, he was awarded with L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 1975 Cultural Medal of Poland for his work in the Turkish Sinematek.

He died on 11 January 1995 in Istanbul resulting from injuries sustained in a bomb attack (claimed by İBDA-C, later revealed to be carried out by PKK) which occurred on 30 December 1994 at The Marmara Hotel's cafeteria in Taksim Square, Istanbul. He was laid to rest at the Aşiyan Asri Cemetery. He was married to Filiz Kutlar.

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize in the National Competition of the Istanbul International Film Festival is named after him to commemorate his contributions to the Turkish cinema.