Damla Sönmez is a renowned Turkish actress and producer of international acclaim, celebrated for her powerful and captivating performances in film, television, and theatre. Born to a family with a rich cultural heritage, her maternal side hails from Abkhazian immigrants, while her paternal grandparents, of Circassian descent, immigrated to Diyarbakir from Syria. As a native Turkish speaker, she is also fluent in English and French.
From a young age, cinema has been Damla's greatest passion. She trained in various cities throughout Europe, graduating from Saint Joseph French High School in Istanbul and subsequently being accepted into the Université de La Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III Theatre department. After a year of study in Paris, she was awarded a scholarship to the Yeditepe University Fine Arts Theatre Department in Istanbul, where she honed her craft. Additionally, she attended Jillian O'Dowd's Contemporary Acting Workshop at the London Dramatic School of Arts.
Throughout her career, Damla has received numerous accolades, including Best Actress awards at the Seattle Film Festival, London Film Week, Milano International Film Festival, Antalya Film Festival, Adana Film Festival, WGA Turkiye, and Eskisehir Film Festival. She has also been nominated for Best Actress at the prestigious Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Damla made her film debut in Kampüste Çiplak Ayaklar (2009) and quickly followed it up with her award-winning performance in Bornova Bornova (2009). She then played a young conservative worker in Çakal (2010) and was nominated for her role as an Ottoman Empire Sultan in Mahpeyker: Kösem Sultan (2010). Her subsequent roles included an abused girl who takes matters into her own hands in Last Stop: Kurtulus (2012),an attorney's daughter who meets the love of her life in A Long Story (2012),and a young town girl with the ability to stop time in Thou Gild'st the Even (2013).
Damla's notable performances continued with her role as a young pregnant Turkish immigrant living in NY who tries to make peace with her haunting past in Across the Sea (2014). She won numerous Best Actress Awards for this performance, followed by another award-winning role as a young journalist who's about to lose her job due to political conflicts in Taksim Hold'em (2017). Her film Sibel (2018),in which she played a village girl who doesn't talk at all and only communicates by whistling, premiered at the 71st Locarno Film Festival.
