Biography
Bahar Bektaş was born in Dersim, Turkey, the daughter of Alevi Kurds. When she was nine, her family fled to Germany. During her youth, she discovered her passion for artistic expression through acting, painting, music and dance. After finishing school, she studied social work in Munich (2007-2012) and then worked in social services while training as a medical assistant. In her social work, Bektaş focused on refugees, sex workers, homeless individuals and offenders, experiences that inspired her to start writing fictional stories.
To deepen her skills as a writer, Bahar Bektaş completed a guest study programme at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF), followed by training as a screenwriter and dramaturge at the Munich Film Academy and further training as a dramaturge/editor at the Masterschool Screenwriting Berlin. Since 2017 she has been studying screenwriting at the Film University Babelsberg "Konrad Wolf" in Potsdam.
For her practical master's thesis, the screenplay "Liebe quält Seele aka EVIN", about a 14-year-old refugee girl searching for love in her new home, Bektaş won the screenplay pitching award at the Filmz Festival Mainz 2019. She has also written scripts for children's and youth series such as "Druck" (2021), "Echt" (2021) and "Made in Germany" (2023). Together with director Can Tanyol, she co-wrote his mid-length graduation film "Verrücktes Blut" about the impending circumcision of a Muslim boy, which won the Jury Short Film Award at the Hofer Filmtage 2023.
Bahar Bektaş made her feature debut as a writer and director with the documentary "Exile never ends". The film explores the plight of her brother, who is detained pending deportation, while also delving into her family's troubled past. At the Max Ophüls Film Festival 2024, "Exile never ends" won the Film Critics Award for Best Documentary and at DOK.fest Munich 2024 it received the FFF Documentary Grant.