Duygu Sagiroglu

This exposure to French culture and cinema later made itself apparent in the poesis and lyricism of "Bitmeyen Yol" (The Never Ending Road, 1965). Sagiroglu also studied architecture for a short while at Istanbul Technical University which opened up new artistic horizons for him. Unlike other filmmakers of the era, Sagiroglu also had a keen interest in theater and stage decoration mostly related to his background in architecture. He started his artistic career as a stage designer in "Kucuk Sahne" (Small Stage Theater) and took active part in the founding of The Association of Theater Players.

"Bitmeyen Yol" made in 1965 is Sagiroglu's first and most successful directing experience also reflecting the highest stage of Turkish social realist movement. Telling the stories of migrant workers in difficulty to adjust themselves to the life style in Istanbul, the film was in a sense the "culminating point" of all previous artistic experiences and hardships.

Although sometimes criticized for its religious emphasis and narrative complexity, the enigma of synthesizing cultural modernism, socio-political engagement and local-traditional colours that many social realist filmmakers tried to create in their own work between 1960-65, was finally solved in "Bitmeyen Yol". The film's script was also written by the director himself.

In many of the important films of Atif Yilmaz and Memduh Un made during 1950s, Sagiroglu worked as a stage designer.

Sagiroglu was born in 1932, in Trabzon, a small town on the Black Sea coast. Like Halit Refig, he grew up in Istanbul having little in common with his native town. He studied at Galatasaray ( a famous French high school located in Istanbul) where he certainly learned about French film traditions.