Yüksel Yavuz was born in Karakocan (Turkish Kurdistan) in 1964 and has lived in Hamburg, Germany since 1980. From 1986 to 1989 he studied Economics and Sociology and after studying Visual Communicaton at Hamburg's Academy of Fine Arts, made several documentaries. His first feature film, "Children of April" (Aprilkinder) won the Audience Award at the Max Ophüls Film Festival in Saarbruecken in 1999.