Neco Çelik

*1972, is a film and theater director. He has directed numerous films and, in some cases, also written their screenplays, as in the case of the fictional documentary 36 qm Stoff (1997). For the episodic feature film Urban Guerillas, he received the audience award at the 2004 Turkey-Germany Film Festival in Nuremberg and at the Würzburg Film Festival. Further successes were the reportage Kreuzberger Nächte (2006) broadcast on ZDF and the 3sat documentary Ganz oben (2007). In addition to several short films (Gettopump, 1999, Hinter der Tür, 2004), he has also directed for television (Alltag, 2002) and cinema (Auf niedriger Flamme, 2006).

In 2006, he made his theater debut with Schwarze Jungfrauen at Berlin's Hebbel am Ufer (HAU), which was nominated for the Mülheim Dramatist Award. This was followed in 2007 by Romeo und Julia, also at HAU, and Ausgegrenzt at the Münchner Kammerspiele. For his first opera production, Gegen die Wand, the opera to Fatih Akin's film of the same name, Neco Çelik received the FAUST Theater Prize for Best Direction in 2011. In 2012/2013 he directed twice at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and in 2014 he staged Molière's Der eingebildete Kranke at the Stadttheater Pforzheim. In February 2015, he staged the play Through Roses at the Staatsoper im Schillertheater Berlin. At the Gorki, he directed Basmala – Friend or Foe, among others.