Ferzan Özpetek (Turkish: [ˈfæɾzan ˈœspetec], Italian: [ˈfɛrdzan ˈɔtspetek, - ˈøts-]; born 3 February 1959) is a Turkish-Italian film director and screenwriter, residing in Italy since 1978.

[6] After receiving stage experience with Julian Beck's Living Theatre, he moved to the cinema landscape, by working as a director assistant to Massimo Troisi, Maurizio Ponzi, Ricky Tognazzi, Sergio Citti and Francesco Nuti.

In 1999, he directed Harem Suare, set in his native land of Turkey, telling the tormented love story between the sultan's favourite, Safiye, and the eunuch Nadir, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the background.

In 2001, Özpetek directed The Ignorant Fairies (Le fate ignoranti), starring Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi, a sweet and easy to watch drama about homosexuality and bonding and friendship of several kinds of outsiders.

It featured a very rich cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Luca Argentero, Isabella Ferrari and Ambra Angiolini, and also Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi with whom he worked earlier, in Le fate ignoranti.

Un Giorno Perfetto, a novel by Melania Gaia Mazzucco, starred Isabella Ferrari and Valerio Mastandrea, and marked the first time Özpetek worked with a story not his own.

[9] In April 2009, he directed a short movie called Nonostante tutto è Pasqua (Despite Everything it's Easter), a segment of the project L’Aquila 2009 - Cinque registi tra le macerie, in which multiple directors took on subjects regarding the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.

[12] In 2011, he was asked to direct Giuseppe Verdi's "La traviata" at San Carlo Opera House, and performed in December 2012, starring Carmen Giannattasio and Saimir Pirgu.