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She was born on December 27, 1919 in Sana'a, which was the territory of the Ottoman Empire at that time. Her father was an Ottoman officer, Captain Necati Bey, and her grandfather, Çorapsız İbrahim Pasha, was the 7th Army Commander in the Ottoman Army.
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After the beginning of World War I and the cession of Yemen from the Ottoman Empire, the family left Sana'a and came to Istanbul. Her father Necati Bey left her family after a while and her mother divorced Necati Bey. In short, Cahide Sonkun's childhood was mostly difficult. -
She was introduced to art during secondary school. She entered Darülbedayi when she was only 16 years old, and over time, she took his place among the favorite actors of Istanbul City Theaters. She started acting with "Zeynebi of the Seven Villages", first at the Halkevleri Theatre, then at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory, and then, with the discovery of Muhsin Ertuğrul, at Darülbedayi. -
She stepped into the cinema in 1933 with the movie “Söz Bir Allah Bir”. Later, in 1950, she founded the Sonku Film company under his own name. She tried directing for the first time with the movie “Fedakar Ana”. The artist, who became famous with the movie Aysel, the Daughter of the Bataklı Dam, appeared before the audience in her films as the beautiful woman who broke the hearts of men and ran away. -
In the competition opened by Yıldız magazine in 1951, Vatan and Namık Kemal were selected as "Best Film" and one of the leading actors, Cahide Sonku, was selected as "Best Actress".
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She went bankrupt when the building of the Sonku Film company she founded burned down in 1963. She worked at the City Theater for a short time, thanks to Muhsin Ertuğrul, for the rest of his life. She then left there and struggled with alcohol addiction in the last years of her life.
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She fell ill and died at the age of 61 at the Alkazar Cinema on March 18, 1981. -
The award given within the scope of Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in memory of Cahide Sonku to draw attention to the visibility of women's labor in the cinema industry. The award is presented to one of the female filmmakers who worked behind or in front of the camera in one of the films in the competition, after the evaluation of the National Feature Film Competition jury.