Yılmaz Güney was a Kurdish film director, scenarist, novelist, and actor.

He quickly rose to prominence in the Turkish film industry. Many of his works were devoted to the plight of ordinary, working class people in Turkey. Güney won the Palme d'Or with the film 'Yol' he co-produced with Şerif Gören at the Cannes Film Festival in 1982. He was at constant odds with the Turkish government because of his portrayals of Kurdish culture, people and language in his movies.