The Auteur Theory in the Filmmaking of Emin Alper

Abstract

This research examines the films Turkey’s director, Emin Alper, created via the lens of the auteur concept and aims to explore common styles and inherent meanings within his creations. Initially, the auteur concept was introduced to distinguish elite directors from ordinary ones. However, it has progressed now to distinguish the directors who display technical competence, unique style, and inner meaning in their films. The role of a screenwriter is often associated with the auteur concept, given the prominence of the screenplay writing process in this theory. Emin Alper, who has directed and written four films in the last ten years, is an exceptional director whose work warrants scrutiny within the domain of auteur theory in Turkish Cinema. Throughout his films “Tepenin Ardı,” “Abluka,” “Kız Kardeşler,” and “Kurak Günler,” Alper incorporates characteristic features and internal meaning beneath the surface of the depicted events. Qualitative content analysis is utilized in this study to examine these features in Alper’s films based on the auteur theory criteria. An essential aspect of auteur theory is the director’s signature, namely their works’ distinctive styles and themes. Distinctive styles and themes were also identified in Alper’s films.