Her 1994 short film Ein Fest für Beyhan wins several awards, including the WDR sponsorship prize.
Polat received the award for best directorial debut at the Ankara International Film Festival.
The tragicomedy tells the story of a Turkish family between Hamburg and Istanbul, whose life is thrown off course when they win the lottery.
The film deals with the return of a young woman from Germany back to the home country of her deceased father.
Being a director of films that belong to the so-called German-Turkish cinema, Ayşe Polat is particularly involved with the political relevance of a poiesis of seeing films, as it becomes most apparent when a minority position is placed in relation to the context of a hegemonic entertainment culture.