CARA: TRANSFORMING‍^©

Before studying philosophy with Jürgen Habermas and subsequently studiying operatic singing with Eike Wilm Schulte, Selcuk Cara was a competitive athlete. He became vice european champion in jazz dance, participated in the German championships in basketball and is a holder of the third master degree in a Korean martial art. Selcuk Cara ended his career as an opera singer in the Wagnerian year 2013 in the role of Hagen ("The Ring of the Nibelung") at the Lower Saxony Music Days; as a concert singer in 2014 at the Beethovenfest Bonn with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "Ode to Joy".

He is a doctoral candidate in musicology, the subject of his thesis: "The Ring of the Nibelung - Decay of Family Structures as a Dramaturgical Device in Richard Wagner's Ring Tetralogy", previously diploma examination on "Tristan und Isolde".

Further studies of directing as well as scenography as master studies. Master classes with Vittorio Storaro, Vilmos Zsigmond, Gus Van Sant, Mike Figgis, Christopher Doyle and Dennis Hopper, among others.
Over 140 international awards as an auteur filmmaker such as the Alaska International Film Award, the Panavision Award, the American Movie Award, North American Film Award, and an invitation to the New York City International Film Festival. Recognition of his work by being rated "especially valuable" by the German Film and Media Rating (FBW). He is the first Turkish-born director to win the Yerevan International Film Festival in Armenia. In 2016 he is part of the nomination jury of the "BVR-German Directing Award Metropolis" and the Grand Jury Red Rock Film Festival, USA.

2016 Publication of the Spiegel bestseller "Turk, but still intelligent", inclusion in the libraries of the memorial and educational site "Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz" and the International Tracing Service ITS - thus part of the UNESCO World Documentary Heritage.

2017 Opening of the Brecht Festival as director, set designer, costume designer and lighting designer with Bertolt Brecht's and Hanns Eisler's "The Measure". 2018 international debut as opera director at the Prague State Opera.

2019 German debut "Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden". 2019 opening of the Brahms Festival Lübeck with Udo Zimmermann's "Weiße Rose".

2020 Artistic direction, conception, production management, direction, stage, lighting, costume and spoken word for "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" 2020 artistic direction, conception, production management, direction, stage, lighting, costume and spoken text for "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" world premiere as part of the application for the title European Capital of Culture 2025 on the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds Nuremberg 2020.

2021 Awards for his feature-length film "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", including Hollywood New Director, International Independent Film Festival Philadelphia, International Chicago Arthouse Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, USA.

At Leipzig Opera with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the 2021/2022 season: production, stage, lighting and film for "Fascination Wagner.

After "The Mastersingers of Nuremberg" and "Fascination Wagner" ("The Ring of the Nibelung"), Selcuk Cara is currently working on two further major international, interdisciplinary projects on Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" and "The Ring of the Nibelung". The performances are planned for 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 in the USA, Europe and Asia.