Sibel Kekilli (former stage name Dilara), born June 16, 1980 in Heilbronn, Germany, is a German actress of Turkish descent.

Her 2004 movie Gegen die Wand (Head-On) written and directed by Fatih Akin was a major public success and received several prizes at film festivals:

• the "Golden Bear" prize for the best movie at the "54. Berlinale" (Berlin International Film Festival) on February 14,
• The golden prize in the category for the best actress at the "Deutscher Filmpreis" ("German Film Prize") on June 18,
• the "Quadriga" prize on October 3 in Berlin, Germany,
• the "Silver Mirror Award" for the best "movie from the south" at the Film Festival on October 16 in Oslo, Norway,
• the audience prize at the "9th Festival de Cine" on November 6-13 in Sevilla, Spain,
• the "Golden Bambi" for the best shooting star at the "56. Bambi-Verleihung" on November 19 in Hamburg, Germany,
• the golden "Gilde" prize for the best German movie 2003/2004 at the "Leipzig Film Fair",
• the award for the best "European movie 2004" at the "European Film Prize" on December 11 in Barcelona, Spain.

Shortly after the release of "Head on", the German tabloid newspaper Bild-Zeitung revealed, in sensationalist tone, that she had previously acted in adult films. This report led to a public scandal and the Bild-Zeitung was reprimanded by the Deutscher Presserat , the self-control institution of German publishers.

Sibel Kekilli will play a young Jewish woman on the way to the concentration camp Auschwitz in the to be filmed German movie Der letzte Zug (The last train).

External links

• German Fansite about Sibel Kekilli
• International Sibel Kekilli - Forum