Born in 1977 in Istanbul to a family from Dersim, Çayan Demirel started working on oral history and documentary cinema in 2000. He completed his first documentary in 2006. Titled '38' the documentary focused on the 1938 Dersim Events in which over 13.000 civilians were killed and 12.000 people were forced to migrate according to the official figures of the Turkish Republic. His second feature-length documentary titled 'Prison No. 5: 1980-84' which focused on the events in Diyarbakır Prison was awarded 'Best Documentary Film' at Antalya Film Festival, Ankara Film Festival and SİYAD (Turkish Film Critics Association). He continues his work on documentary films, oral history and biographies at SURELA FILM PRODUCTION company.