Ayşe Polat was born in 1970 in Malatya, Turkey. From 1991 to 1993 she studied German language and literature, philosophy and cultural studies at the FU Berlin and at the University of Bremen. As a director and writer, she is particularly known for her films Auslandstournee (2000), En garde (2004), and Lucks Glück (2010). Auslandstournee was screened at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival and the Tokyo Film Festival and won the Best Directorial Debut Award in Ankara.