Birol Ünel is a German actor of Turkish descent. He has acted in a number of German

Cinema of Germany

Cinema in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema has made major technical and artistic contributions to film.Unlike any other national cinemas, which developed in the context of relatively continuous and stable political systems, Germany witnesses major changes to its...

 and Turkish

Cinema of Turkey

Turkish cinema is an important part of Turkish culture, and has flourished over the years, delivering entertainment to audiences in Turkey, expatriates across Europe, and in rare cases, the USA....

 films, TV series and theatrical productions. His name, "Birol", means "unique" in Turkish.

Ünel was born in Mersin

Mersin

-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...

 in southern Turkey. In 1968, his family moved to Brinkum

Brinkum

Brinkum is a municipality in the district of Leer, in Lower Saxony, Germany....

 near Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

 in Germany. He studied acting at Hanover Conservatory.

Ünel began as a theatre actor at the Berliner Tacheles where he played the lead and also directed the play "Caligula". Ünel made his film debut in 1988's The Passenger

The Passenger - Welcome to Germany

The Passenger - Welcome to Germany is a 1988 German drama film directed by Thomas Brasch. It was entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Tony Curtis - Mr...

. He played a private detective in the film Dealer which he followed up with a role in Fatih Akın

Fatih Akin

Fatih Akın is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent.- Personal life :Akın was born in 1973 in Hamburg to parents of Turkish ethnicity...

's Im Juli

Im Juli

-Plot:At the beginning of his summer holiday, a somewhat naïve trainee teacher Daniel buys a ring from a stall run by Juli . The ring bears a Mayan sun symbol, which, according to Juli, has the power to lead him to the woman of his dreams, whom he will recognise by a similar sun symbol...

. Birol then acted in the award winning Gegen die Wand as Cahit Tomruk. He won the German film prize for best actor for this role.

His latest films have been Transylvania

Transylvania (film)

Transylvania is a 2006 French drama film starring Asia Argento. In 2006, Director Tony Gatlif and composer Delphine Mantoulet won the "Georges Delerue Prize" at the Flanders International Film Festival for the score, and Gatlif was nominated for the "Grand Prix" award...

, Seven Heroes and Soul Kitchen

Soul Kitchen (film)

Soul Kitchen is a 2009 German comedy film directed by Fatih Akın, with a screenplay by Akin and Adam Bousdoukos. Bousdoukos based the story on his own experiences as the owner of a Greek tavern named "Taverna", where Akin was a regular customer. Akin filmed the movie entirely in the Hamburg...

. Ünel also acted in the hit Turkish film Hırsız var! in 2005.

External links

• http://www.birol-uenel.com