Neslihan Barlak
Documentary Filmmaker / Photographer (Broadway, NSW)

Neslihan Barlak is an Australian / Turkish practitioner and theoretician of documentary film studies; as well as critic, writer, producer, photographer and computer media-arts designer.

Her prolific and engaging screen works and her extensive theoretical research studies examine the depth of issues involving the 'blurred boundaries' of the relationship between what is perceived as 'real' and what is 'fictional'. (Reference - Blurred boundaries : questions of meaning in contemporary culture, Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c1994.)

Her doctorate research studies "Analysis of Hybrid Documentary" by investigating an immensely under-theorized area of media studies, and stands as an international contribution to the non-fiction film theories and is a testament in which the new and dynamic understanding of the term documentary reside, as different modes and exploration of new reference points change how we interpret the form.

Born in Istanbul on 3 January 1983, Neslihan commenced her first and secondary degrees in Istanbul. She then proceeded with her education in Michigan, U.S.A. at Hackett Catholic Highschool. She resided in United States for three years and moved to Sydney, Australia in year 2000. She has then completed a Bachelors Degree of Electronic and Temporal Arts, University of Sydney -- Masters Degree of Multimedia Design with Honours, University of Sydney -- Masters Degree of Film and Digital Image, University of Sydney.

She is currently a candidate for Doctor of Philosophy at University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts.

"The representation of what is not current, is a representation of history; and what is neither can only be an expression. An expression which time, substance, representation value and creative treatment can not stand as an obstacle for. We might be inclined to call this expression an attempt of a 'construction' or a 're-construction' of the 'invented' or 'interpreted'; but the relevance of such expression in theoretical terms, lies not in its similarity, but in its contrast to the distinction between the understanding of the 'real' in social linguistics and the 'real' in relation to contemporary art practice. " (Reference - Hybrid Documentary, 2008)

Nesli Barlak was director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer for;

© [[EYEWITNESS]] (2008) H.Documentary, © [[FIVE]] (2006) H.Documentary, © [[TRANSLATION]] (2006) H.Documentary, © [[CORNER]] (2006) H.Documentary, © [[RETURN]] (2005), © [[THE UNFORTUNATE]] (2004), © [[CHANCES ARE]] (2003)

Barlak has also been involved in numerous still photography and installation art exhibitions.

Her written work titles include;

Hybrid Documentary, the Inter-Linked Strands of Representation, 2008 Documentary Transforming: Notions of Marginal Versus Central, 2009 Re-analysis of Creative Treatment in Non-Fiction Contemporary Art Practice, 2008 'Real' As Means of Expression, 2007 Audience, Presence and Memory, 2007

"The complications that we face in critical examination of understanding the 'non-fiction' film form are not new in principal; but the conditions and terms in which they must be analyzed changed extensively, through not only the hybration of genres but also through the internal hybration of the modes and conventionally set districts. " <ref> Hybrid Documentary, 2008 </ref>

Neslihan is also the co-founder of renowned Australian designer jewellery brand Zaruff Jewellery, along with sister Mihriban Barlak. Barlaks lead a talented team of passionate craftsman, continuously pursuing excellence in their designs. Inspired, timeless, yet cutting-edge pieces have been the hallmark of this team's celebrated collabrations since 2001. Zaruff Jewellery is now extended into nine outlets alone in Sydney, Australia; with wholesale franchises to the surrounding states. The brand is yet to open outlets in Auckland New Zealand, Barcelona Spain and London England before the winter 2009 season.

Contact Neslihan Barlak