Hello, my name is Deniz Berkin and Awake at Dawn Productions is my film production and photography company. Thank you for visiting this site. I have been making films and taking pictures, off and on, ever since I was 16 and still continue to love doing both. I have a day job as a software developer but luckily it gives me the flexibility to enjoy my moviemaking and photography passions. I am a member of IFCO ( Independent Filmmakers Co-Operative of Ottawa ) and currently sit as the President on their Board of Directors. Whether I am making movies or shooting pictures I shoot exclusively on film rather than digitally. I don't know why, I just love the look I guess.

I am lucky that I have the freedom to create any type of film I want, which is often what I do. They are usually anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes and range in topics from abstract and experimental to slapstick comedy to country western videos - a very wide range. I try to get the films screened as often as I can but I do admit that they are not for everyone's taste. Some end up having a little bit of popularity and others, well let's just say that I'm the only one who really gets a kick out of them. But I'm proud to say that I ultimately make the films for myself and as long as I enjoy or learn from them then they are successful in their own way.

The photos that I take are my attempts to capture a dream quality or a dream feel. Things I tend to like are pictures that are blurry, out of focus, poorly composed, poorly lit and generally break every rule on what constitutes a nice picture. Right now I am really interested in portraiture and want to practise taking interesting, moody shots of people. Hopefully I'll get some crazy shots to add to my portfolio. By the way, the photos on this site are grouped into multiple series since the complete set can sometimes work better together than any individual photo might alone.

In 2009 I shot four films : "Beyond Uranium", an experimental documentary, "Death Deals the Ace of Spades", a tongue in cheek horror comedy, "Late Nights and Green Lights", a short fictional tribute to The Great Gatsby and "Ghost Hunter's Strangest Case", another but different experimental documentary. I'm looking forward to 2010 when I hope to film many more shorts. Currently I just finished Television Times and I'm working on The Almond Poltergeist which will be shot in March of 2010.

That's it for me , feel free to watch the movies or flip thru the pictures. Hopefully you find something you can enjoy but if not thanks for taking a look anyway.

Recent Screenings:

Taconic Sculptures                                                      Jan 2 2009               Mayfair Theater, Ottawa
Wedding Day Blues                                                     Feb 14 2009            Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa
Street Dreamz                                                              April 2 2009             Mercury Lounge, Ottawa
Street Dreamz                                                              April 30 2009           Babylon Nightclub, Ottawa
Strange Days                                                               June 5 2009             Mercury Lounge, Ottawa
Death Deals the Ace of Spades                                July 16 2009             Rideau Street Underpass, Ottawa
Beyond Uranium                                                           August 8 2009         Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa
Street Dreamz                                                              August 15 2009       Dundonald Park, Ottawa
The Closed Door                                                          Oct 1 2009               Mercury Lounge, Ottawa
Street Dreamz                                                              Nov 7 2009               Sweet 16 - Cinevic, Victoria BC
Someone is Watching Me                                           Nov 19 2009            Visible Verse 2009 Victoria, BC
Television Times                                                          Jan 15 2010             The Collection/Bar 56 Ottawa, On
Late Nights and Green Lights                                     Jan 28 2010             Mayfair Theater, Ottawa, On
Ghost Hunter's Strangest Case                                  March 20 2010        Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa
Wedding Day Blues                                                     April 2-4 2010          Faux Film Festival 2010 Portland Oregon
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