He is a Turkish-Italian director, screenwriter and writer. In 1976, he first went to Perugia Foreigners University in Italy, learned Italian for a year, and then transferred to Rome La Sapienza University to study cinema. After completing his education there, he went to Accademia Navona and Accademia d'Arte Dramatica schools to study art history, costume and theater direction and took lessons from Silvio D'Amico. During this period, he worked with Julien Beck in various positions on the European tour of The Living Teather. In 1982, he was assistant director to Massimo Troisi in the film Scusate il Ritardo, and later to Maurizio Ponzi in the film Son Contento. Ferzan Özpetek worked as an assistant director for nearly 15 years with different directors such as Ricky Tognazzi, Lamberto Bava, Francesco Nuti, Sergio Citti, Giovanni Veronesi and Marco Risi.

American singer Madonna stated that Ferzan Özpetek was "a genius" in an interview with a television program. Özpetek received congratulations from names such as John Travolta and Andy Garcia after the screening of his 2009 film, Serseri Mayinlar, at the opening of the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Ferzan Özpetek served as the jury president of the committee consisting of actors Hülya Kocyigit, Zuhal Olcay, Aytac Arman, Kenan Isik and director Nuri Bilge Ceylan at the 42nd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival held in 2005.

In 2007, he was a jury member at the 75th Venice Film Festival.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: yusufpiskin

Ferzan Özpetek (n. 3 de febrero de 1959) es un director de cine y guionista turco-italiano. Özpetek nació en Estambul en 1959. Se mudó a Italia en 1977 para estudiar en la Universidad de La Sapienza en Roma. Posteriormente estudió cursos de dirección en la Academia de Arte Dramático Silvio d'Amico en Roma. Trabajó como asistente de dirección con Massimo Troisi, Maurizio Ponzi y otros directores italianos. Özpetek debutó como director en 1997 con Hamam: el baño turco . La película cosechó numerosos éxitos entre la crítica. Ferzan Özpetek es abiertamente gay y trata el tema de la sexualidad en varias de sus obras.