Reha Erdem is a leading Turkish filmmaker and screenwriter. He began his studies in History at Bogazici University in Istanbul. In 1983, Erdem went to Paris 8 University to major in Cinema and Modern Art and completed a graduate degree. He directed his first feature film, A Ay (Oh Moon) in 1989. It received awards at the Nantes Film Festival, and was screened at the Locarno, Moscow, Vancouver and Dunkerque Film Festivals. His second feature, Kac Para Kac (A Run for Money, 1999) represented Turkey at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. It was featured at the Tokyo, Munich, London, Oslo, Thessaloniki and Seattle Film Festivals, and also was screened in the 3rd Boston Turkish Film Festival in 2004. Erdem was invited to direct Hizmetciler (The Maids) by Jean Genet for the Istanbul National Theater in 1991. He directed a short film called Deniz Turkusu (The Sea Song), inspired by the poem of famous Turkish poet Yahya Kemal Bayatli. Since 1990, he has directed over a hundred TV commercials. In 1993, he founded Atlantik Film production company with Omer Atay.