Hermit & The Fool
Believes most resonant stories exist in the crack. Our identity is built around exploring that fertile ground where cultures intersect, and characters confront the grey areas of humanity.
We love the cinema that is psychologically deep and philosophically rich, fusing genre momentum with arthouse aesthetics.
At HERMIT & The FOOL we craft eccentric narratives that challenge, captivate, and viscerally entertain an international audience, hungry for intelligent, audacious, and emotionally poignant filmmaking.
Burak Oğuz-Saguner
An award-winning writer-director and producer, Burak is a graduate of Australian Film Radio & Television School — AFTRS. His works were screened at prestigious festivals such as the Berlinale, New York FF, and Thessaloniki IFF. His cinematography on Driftwood Dustmites won Best Achievement in Cinematography at the Oscar-qualifying St Kilda FF.
Burak's filmography includes IN AUTUMN, which was nominated for the Short Grand Prix at the Warsaw Film Festival. His acclaimed short, Salça, has been screened at over 30 festivals and won more than a dozen awards including Best Film at the 34th Bamberger Kurzfilmtage.
Burak is now developing his debut feature, MIRA DREAMS OF MUSHROOMS, expanding on this award-winning short. The project has already secured development funding from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and was selected for the Film Talent Academy-Linz.Formerly known as MIRA COOKS SALÇA, MIRA DREAMS OF MUSHROOMS drew significant interest during the pitch session at the 2025 Marché du Film as part of this Lab.
Mert Güncüer
Mert Güncüer is a Turkish screenwriter, producer and director with a Master's degree in Cinema from Başkent University. His work is noted for its international scope, having collaborated with artists from around the world at the EU-supported ‘Luksuz Produkcija’.
After his short films gained significant traction on the international festival circuit, Mert’s debut feature documentary about the life of revolutionary musician Fuat Saka, MISINA: DIARY OF AN EXILE, world-premiered at the 44th IKSV Istanbul Film Festival and was acquired by the MUBI.
His second documentary feature, BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, which is co-produced by Burak Oguz-Saguner with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture, is in the late stages of post-production.
In addition to BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, Mert and Burak have a long-standing creative partnership, with Mert taking on the responsibility as the co-producer of Burak's acclaimed short films ONE THIRD OF A SECOND and SALÇA/BITTER.
