The Turkish born electronic musician, composer and Atlantic Records producer İlhan Mimaroğlu is the subject of Serdar Kökçeoğlu’s A Documentary Project: Mimaroğlu. The film makers are keen to point out that it won’t just be about Mimaroğlu’s musical life – it will also tell the story of his romantic and creative relationship with his wife Güngör Mimaroğlu, their political activism, as well as İlhan’s work with photography, street art and cinema. The film will feature both new and archive footage, including interviews with Güngör. Post-production will start at the beginning of 2019, and a crowdfunding campaign is on the horizon.

Born in Istanbul in 1926, Mimaroğlu was the son of Mimar Kemaleddin Bey, the famous architect depicted on a Turkish lire banknote. İlhan and Güngör Mimaroğlu moved to America where İlhan studied music at New York City’s Columbia University and, later, Columbia-Princeton Electronic Center. As a producer at Atlantic Records he worked on albums by the likes of Charles Mingus, and also collaborated with Freddie Hubbard. Frank Zappa and John Lennon have both cited Mimaroğlu’s electronic compositions as influences, and Federico Fellini used one of his pieces in his 1969 film Satyricon. Mimaroğlu died of pneumonia in 2012.

The film is scripted by Serdar Kökçeoğlu and Elif Dizdaroğlu, and the music direction is by Erdem Helvacıoğlu. You can follow the project on Instagram.