Biography

Damla Sönmez is an award-winning Turkish actress and producer of international distinction known for her powerful performances in film, television, and theatre. Her maternal family is Abkhazian immigrants. Her paternal grandparent is of Circassian descent who immigrated to Diyarbakir from Syria. Her native language is Turkish and is fluent in English and French. Cinema has been her greatest passion since she was child. As a young actress, Sonmez trained in cities throughout Europe. After graduating from Saint Joseph French High School in Istanbul, she was accepted to Université de La Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III Theatre department. She studied for a year in Paris before being awarded a scholarship to the Yeditepe University Fine Arts Theatre Department in Istanbul. She also attended Jillian O'Dowd's Contemporary Acting Workshop at the London Dramatic School of Arts.. She's been honored with Best Actress awards at the Seattle Film Festival, London Film Week, Milano International Film Festival, Antalya Film Festival, Adana Film Festival, WGA Turkiye, Eskisehir Film Festival and was nominated for Best Actress at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Sonmez made her film debut in Kampüste Çiplak Ayaklar (2009), which was quickly followed up with her award-winning performance in Bornova Bornova (2009) in which she played a confused, yet ruthless Lady M-inspired girl from Izmir. She played a young conservative worker in _Çakal(2010)_ and was nominated for her work as an Ottoman Empire Sultan in Mahpeyker: Kösem Sultan (2010). Sonmez next played an abused girl who takes matters into her own hands in the comedy Last Stop: Kurtulus (2012) She continued her work in film in A Long Story (2012) as an attorney's daughter who meets the love of her life, followed by Thou Gild'st the Even (2013) playing a young town girl who has the ability to stop time. Sonmez won many Best Actress Awards with her role in Across the Sea (2014) as a young pregnant Turkish immigrant living in NY who tries to make peace with her haunting past which was followed up with another award-winning performance in Taksim Hold'em (2017) in which she played a young journalist who's about to lose her job due to political conflicts. Her film Sibel (2018) in which she played a village girl who doesn't talk at all and only communicates by whistling made it's world premier in 71.Locarno Film Festival.

- IMDb mini biography by: ari.