Ümit Köreken
Born in Akşehir, Turkey, in 1978, he graduated from Anadolu University’s Faculty of Business Management. He has written for radio, theatre and screen. His plays and stories were published in a wide variety of print and online media. He studied digital filmmaking in 2011.

Director's statement
“Blue Bicycle is a story of young love, of dreams and of a quest for justice. It tells the story of a small town boy, trying to make sense of what’s going on around him and how he is capable of sacrificing the blue bicycle he has been dreaming of for a long, long time to rectify an injustice he witnesses.
The hero of our story, Ali is on his way to become an adult. Losing his father at an early age has put a heavy burden on his shoulders. The murky circumstances surrounding the death of his father and his mother’s state of mind, heavily affected by her loss, have all thrown Ali into confusion. He tries to adapt to the world of adults and keep his childhood dreams alive. He gives the money he earns in the tire shop to his mother and puts aside his tips to buy a blue bicycle. It is important to me that young people watch Blue Bicycle. But though we started it as a project for young viewers, I hope adults will also be interested in the film. Because one of my objectives is to remind adults what they were like when they were kids and how they behaved. I want to remind them of the challenges they faced. I grew up in a working class family, in a region where people work with their body and soul. I mingled with all these people and I had the pleasure of working with children, who never cease to inspire me. I think it is an edifying and amusing experience to view the world from the perspective of young people […]”.