Turkish film and theater actor, director and producer Cahide Sonku was born in Sanaa, Yemen in 1919. She entered the Darülbedayi Ottoman imperial theater at the age of 16, going on to become one of the prominent actors at the İstanbul City Theaters. In 1933, she made her start in cinema with the film Söz Bir Allah Bir. Fedâkar Ana (1949) was her directing debut. In 1950, she started the Sonku Film production company. In Yıldız Magazine’s competition in 1951, Vatan ve Namık Kemal, which she directed and starred in, was named Best Film, and Sonku was named Best Actress. Sonku won the Film Critics Association’s (SİYAD) Service Award in 1979.