Melisa Sözen came to international attention with Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep, winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Since then, she has built an international career across acclaimed European cinema and television, working with some of the industry’s most distinctive filmmakers and creators.
Her screen work includes Éric Rochant’s Le Bureau des Légendes for Canal+, Netflix’s Who Were We Running From?—a global hit that became one of the platform’s most internationally successful Turkish original series—Netflix’s Istanbul Encyclopedia, Alef, and Xavier De Choudens’ Damien Veut Changer Le Monde.
Most recently, she stars in Roya, directed by Mahnaz Mohammadi, which premiered in the Panorama section of the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, won the Best Film Award at the International Film Festival Innsbruck, received an Honourable Mention from the Amnesty Media Award, and continues its international festival run.
Alongside her acting career, Sözen develops and produces internationally oriented film and television projects. She has served on the juries of prestigious film festivals such as Sarajevo Film Festival, CANNESERIES, and the Guanajuato International Film Festival, and is a member of the European Film Academy.
Based in London, she continues to work internationally across film and television in English, French, and Turkish.
