At the International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival—Turkey’s longest-running film festival, which will take place from October 24 to 31, 2026—this year’s “Cinema Achievement Award” will be presented to Suzan Kardeş.
Suzan Kardeş, who received the Cinema Labor Award at the 63rd Antalya Golden Orange International Film Festival, has worked as a hairstylist and makeup artist in film, theater, advertising, and photography productions since 1980. She is also a singer and actress.
Suzan Kardeş has built a distinguished career in music as well. She performed alongside Goran Bregović at his concerts and represented Türkiye by giving concerts at numerous international festivals. She began her professional singing career in 2007 with the release of her Turkish classical music album and performs songs in Bosnian, Serbian, Albanian, Macedonian, and Turkish. Kardeş has shared the stage with legendary Romani music icon Esma Redžepova and Eurovision winner Dino Merlin. She also collaborated on an album with Divanhana, one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's leading music ensembles. In recognition of preserving the Hıdırellez tradition for 32 years and mentoring numerous makeup artists and hairstylists for the Turkish film industry, Suzan Kardeş was included by UNESCO in the Living Human Treasures – Representatives of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmitted to Future Generations list.
Throughout her professional career, Suzan Kardeş worked as the hairstylist and makeup artist for all of Tolga Çevik’s projects for 18 years. She also worked on numerous television commercials and designed and applied Haluk Bilginer’s Atatürk makeup for İş Bankası’s acclaimed commercial campaign.
Kardeş served as a hairstylist and makeup artist on many feature films, including Vizontele, Vizontele Tuuba, Hokkabaz, Beynelmilel, Cumhuriyet Şarkısı, the Eyyvah Eyvah series, Nadide Hayat, and the Hükümet Kadın series. She was also part of the hair and makeup teams for the television series Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman Ki, Vatanım Sensin, and numerous other productions.
Kardeş became widely recognized through her on-screen appearances in television productions and has also built a successful acting career in film and television. Her film credits include Organize İşler, Nadide Hayat, Yapışık Kardeşler, Geçmişteki Sır, Bergen, Sadık Ahmet, Dünya Varmış, and the award-winning Yeni Şafak Solarken. Most recently, she portrayed Morena, Dracula’s mother, in the television series Fatih. She also played twin sisters in Benim Adım Aylamaz and the character Azime in Aziz. Continuing her work in theater, Suzan Kardeş currently performs the role of Havva in 7 Kocalı Hürmüz and the lead singer in the musical Gırgıriye. She recently completed the pre-production work for the feature film Adile and is currently involved in the preparation of the film DİVA.
In 1983, Kardeş worked as the hairstylist and makeup artist for the cast of Hisseli Harikalar Kumpanyası at Şan Theater. She later joined Hürriyet newspaper, where she further developed her craft by providing makeup for actors appearing in its popular photo-novel productions. During the production of the photo novel Çalıkuşu, she met Sezen Aksu, and from 1985 onward became responsible for all of Aksu’s stage and production makeup.
The “Cinema Achievement Awards” of the 63rd International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival will be presented to their recipients at the festival’s opening ceremony on Saturday, October 24, 2026.