University to present Metin Erksan Collection

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The library of prominent director Metin Erksan, who died last week in Istanbul, will be open to researchers and students at Işık University as the “Metin Erksan Collection.” He donated his library to the university before his death.

According to a statement by the university, the master director’s huge archive of 1,000 books, including history, cinema and literary books, will be available at the university, where he had given classes since 2007.

The collection will be at the Central Library on Işık University’s Şile campus. The collection includes volumes dating back to 1929, the university said in the statement. There are also thousands of magazines in the collection.

One of the greatest filmmakers in Turkish cinema, Erksan was the director of “Susuz Yaz” (Dry Summer), a 1964 black-and-white film that won Turkey’s first international cinema awards. The film won the Golden Bear at the 14th Berlin International Film Festival and the Biennale Award at the 29th Venice Film Festival. The film was also selected as the Turkish entry for “Best Foreign Language Film” at the 37th Academy Awards.