Ayten Kuyululu Ürkmez

Ayten Kuyululu (; 30 August 1930 – 31 May 2019) was a Turkish-Australian film director, actress, opera singer and screenwriter. She was the first woman to direct a feature film in Australia since 1933 with The Golden Cage.

Early life and career Kuyululu was born in Istanbul in 1930. As a young woman she was an actress and opera singer, and wrote radio plays. and wrote the screenplay for a 1963 Turkish film called . She also sang with the Royal Swedish Opera.

The family moved to Australia in 1971. After initially working as a department store clerk, Kuyululu joined the chorus of Opera Australia and acted in television shows including Matlock Police, Ryan and Homicide.

In 1974 she wrote, directed and starred in the 40-minute film A Handful of Dust about the challenges of a Turkish couple who meet in Sydney.

The Golden Cage In 1975 Kuyululu directed the 70-minute film The Golden Cage, about a pair of male Turkish friends struggling to settle in Australia. She was the first woman in Australia to direct a film since Paulette McDonagh over forty years previously.

In November 2023, The Golden Cage was screened by the Melbourne Cinematheque and ACMI as part of a program focusing on migrant women directors in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s.