Özcan Alper was born in 1975 in the small town of Artvin in the northeast of Turkey. During his studies of physics at Istanbul University, he became more interested in cultural and politic themes than in academic studies and became involved with cinema, working with alternative cinema groups. After finishing his studies, he started his cinematography career, working as assistant director and production staff in several TV movies and serials. His first short film MOMI (Grandmother) received several awards. It was the first film ever shot in the Hemsin language (a dialect from the northeast of Turkey). He also writes film reviews for several known cinema magazines in Turkey.