Multi-Award Winning Young Turkish Woman Filmmaker Dreamed As A Child In Istanbul To One Day Come To Hollywood And Make Motion Pictures

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Feb. 12, 2019 - PRLog -- One day long ago a girl named Ozlem Altingoz wandered on to a Turkish television show set in Istanbul where she was warmly welcomed by the cast and crew. She watched the actors and the company work tirelessly until the sun set. That day, she says, was the wellspring of her journey to come to Hollywood and learn all the aspects of filmmaking, particularly directing.

Now, years later, award-winning director Ozlem has premiered her two short, distinctive, horror films at such high-profile film festivals as the prestigious Cannes Film festival (Festival De Cannes) to Spain's Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, considered the premiere horror film festival the world over.

Ozlem has given new meaning to the horror film genre known as "Slasher Films." "I am a horror filmmaker…that is where my journey has taken me," asserted Ozlem, who, as a child in Turkey, watched such films as Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and Psycho.  "I want to create horror films my audiences will remember forever and ever…not films that will remind them of something they have already experienced on the screen."

Director-producer-author Shane Stanley (The Grid Iron Gang with Dwayne Johnson, Showtime's Mistrust with Jane Seymour, the just released feature theatrical film, The Untold Story with Nia Peeples and the author of What You Don't Learn in Film School) had this to say about Ms. Altingoz's award-winner, Birth: "Ozlem Altingoz has taken the psych-thriller to a whole new level. If you don't know who she is, set your watch, you will soon...very soon."

David Armstrong, Director of Photography (Saw Series) commented: "Stunning opening credits! It's amazing that you got all that story in a short film. Well edited, great story."

Scott Lobdell, Writer (Happy Death Day): "Looks so creepy, high tension."

Her award-winning film (25 film awards) Birth (https://ozlemaltingoz.com/films/birth/) and earlier Daughter of the Lake (https://ozlemaltingoz.com/films/daughter-of-the-lake/) are multi-award winners.  Birth is a jaw dropping, horrific story that examines how far one man, whose life at birth was spared in a demonic deal, would go to save his family from the price of his own soul.  Lake, earning already some 50 film awards, tells the tale of a group of friends who stumble upon a deadly secret in the woods.  Filmmaker Ozlem Altingoz made the two films with no plans to sell them for commercial distribution, but rather they were created she says to "hone my craft and exhibit them to film festival audiences".

These two films have become precursors to Ozlem's upcoming debut as a feature film director for a unique horror movie she is now beginning to develop with screen writer Scott Lobdell (Happy Death Day).  Details of this film will be announced in the near future.

Here is what some other industry figures and film festivals had to say about Ms. Altingoz:

Utah Film Festival: "Horror movies have a long history relying on myths and tradition to sell their stories. However, director/writer Ozlem Altingoz took a very different approach and seemed to relish breaking all the rules to tell a new kind of story."

Festigous International Film Festival: "Birth is an exceptionally immersive and creepy experience thanks, in no small part, to Ozlem Altingoz's imaginative directorial skill set. Great job from Altingoz's, a young promising female filmmaker, who led her team to create a very well-done horror film."

Top Shorts Online Film Festival: "Terrifying! She makes a great progress as a storyteller, bringing many emotions to this short film, from compassion to….fear. Remember her name 10 years from now, Ozlem Altingoz will be one of the leading horror movie directors."  -Roy Zafrani-

Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival: "So Bloody." Ozlem was the nominee at this impressive festival for its Brigadoon Paul Naschy Award.

About Filmmaker Ozlem Altingoz

Ozlem Altingoz was born in Mersin, Turkey. In 2015 she graduated Private Marmara Vocational High School (radio-tv). Arriving in Hollywood in 2016, she enrolled in the New York Film Academy, near Warner Brothers studios where she studied all aspects of filmmaking, with an emphasis on directing and writing. Her short horror film Daughter of the Lake (2017) garnered critical acclaim on the festival circuit with some 50 awards, including Best Film Short, Best Women Filmmakers, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Daughter of the Lake demonstrates Ozlem's talents through her unique blend of visual excellence, technical skill, and storyline originality. Ozlem's most recent short horror film, Birth (2018), premiered at the 2018 Festival de Cannes Short Film Corner and has won 25 awards and counting in the festival circuit so far, including Best Producer, Best Director, Best Original Story, and Best Horror Short. Among her other favorite American horror films are Insidious, the original Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis (1978) and director William Friedkin's The Exorcist. Her web site is :www.ozlemaltingoz.com

Ms. Ozlem Altingoz's IMDB link: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8583964/

Her director's reel can be viewed at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WCvTgDW-0SuvQNnOtpjSvq7dN9OpDb7f

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/%C3%96zlem-Alting%C3%B6z-2225690994161510/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozlem96/?hl=tr

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February 2019

Media Contact:

Charles Barrett/The Barrett Company LLC/Los Angeles/310-471-5764/Email:cbarrett@thebarrettco.com