Mu Tunç (born August 21, 1986) is a Turkish director, writer, film producer, and actor.[1][2] His directing work includes feature films,[3][4] digital web-series,[5] commercials, and music videos.[6] Tunç received international recognition[7][8][9][10] in 2018 for directing the teen drama Arada, which has been seen as one of the first punk films of Turkey.[11][12][13]
Early life and education
He was born in Istanbul. His father, Altan Tunç, was a singer in the '70s.[14] His brother Orkun Tunç (ex. member of Turkish punk band Rashit) is a musician and music producer who is one of the pioneer members of the first punk hardcore bands in Istanbul.[3] He graduated from Design with an M.A. in Cinema.[15][16]
Career
Advertising
Tunç began his career in digital advertisement and marketing before directing his feature films. After graduating from Design, Tunç started working on international digital agencies such as; McCann, and he led the creative process of several advertising and marketing campaigns, including brands like Coca-Cola, L'Oreal, MasterCard, Starbucks, and many other international brands.[17]
Branding
Tunç also concentrated in the field of brand management. In 2012, he worked on the global streaming service company MUBI as a brand director and assisted them in developing their "one-film-per-day" subscription model.[18] Tunç launched the LomoKino camera on Cannes Film Festival, which Apichatpong Weerasethakul shot an experimental short film titled Ashes with the camera.[19][20][21] In 2016, Tunç worked with high-end streetwear brand Les Benjamins and assisted them in constructing their brand identity.[22] He empowered them to present their Milan Menswear debut show Ottoman Punk in Milan Fashion Week together with former fashion editor of L'Uomo Vogue, Robert Rabensteiner.[23]Vogue called the presentation an "unexpected highlight of the season."[24]
Tunç made his feature film debut in 2018 with Arada, which he wrote and directed.[30] The story set in 90's Istanbul and chronicles a young punk who decides to move to California in pursuit of a successful music career and sets on a journey through Istanbul's underworlds in search of a ticket.[11] The film was based on Tunç's childhood years spent filming his brother's gigs and recording Istanbul's music subcultures.[3][7][31]
Arada opened nationwide on April 13, 2018, in 81 theaters[32][33][34] and premiered in international film festivals[35][36] and museums.[37][38][39][40] The film gained cult popularity by being one of the first punk films in Turkey.[11][41][3][42][13] According to Joseph Pomp; "Arada offers a full-blown survey of the tensions between globalist liberalism and traditional values that, to this day, constitute the pulse of Istanbul."[7]
Music videos
Tunç directed a variety of music videos for acclaimed artists from New York to London to Reykjavik to Tel Aviv. He directed a music video for Randall Dunn's first solo studio album titled Beloved for the song "A True Home", featuring as guest vocal Zola Jesus which premiered on NPR in 2018.[6][43][44][45]
In 2019, Tunç worked with American musician Alex Toth (known from Brooklyn band Rubblebucket) and shot a music video for his song "When I Awoke," which influenced by Tarkovsky's sci-fi film Stalker.[46][47][48] He worked with Israeli artist Liraz Charhi for her solo record and shot her music video for the song titled "Zan Bezan".[49][50][51]
In 2020, Tunç directed a music video for acclaimed Icelandic singer Gyða Valtýsdóttir for the song "Í Annarri Vídd" from her solo album Evolution which premiered on Vogue Italia.[29]
