Born in 1974 in Konya, Emin Alper studied economics and history at Boğaziçi University, before obtaining his PhD on Modern Turkish History from the same university. His first feature-length film Beyond the Hill received Caligari Film Award at Berlin Film Festival and Best Film Award at Istanbul Film Festival. A faculty member at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Emin Alper has penned numerous articles on cinema and politics in various magazines.