EErol Mintaş (b. 1983, Kars) is a filmmaker and doctoral researcher, who completed his graduate studies in computer science and in cinema—his MA thesis was about the cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky and existentialism in cinema. His short films Butimar and Berf (aka Snow) received many awards, and competed in various important film festivals around the world. In 2014, Mintaş’s first feature, Song of My Mother, made a major splash on the festival circuit, playing around the world and being awarded plenty of prizes, including the Heart of Sarajevo award for best film and best actor, and numerous other important awards. He moved to Helsinki in January 2017, where his new film project (Earth Song) is currently taking place, supported by the Finnish Film Foundation (Suomen elokuvasäätiö) scriptwriting grant and development support.