İzmir Short Film Festival in Turkey concludes its 25th year with a grand awards ceremony
The 25th İzmir Short Film Festival, a cornerstone of Turkish cinema, concluded with a prestigious awards ceremony at İzQ Innovation Center in İzmir, Turkey. Over its week-long duration, the festival showcased diverse short films across multiple venues, including the French Cultural Center, Çatı Bostanlı, Karaca Cinema, and Buca Municipality Tarık Youth Center, drawing an audience of nearly 10,000 cinema enthusiasts.
Festival director Yusuf Saygı praised the enduring support of İzmir’s audience over the event’s 25-year history, highlighting challenges related to resource allocation for arts and culture. Saygı urged for strategic planning to ease the pressures on festival organizers and participants.
İzmir Film Lab, the festival’s project development platform, played a pivotal role in nurturing emerging talent. Director Gülen Gözkara Saygı emphasized their ongoing commitment to supporting local filmmakers in developing their projects and enhancing İzmir's cinematic landscape.
The awards spanned four competition categories and recognized outstanding films, projects, and contributors.
Award Winners:
İzmir Film Lab
- Serpil Altın Film Sustainable Filmmaking Consultancy and Fono Film Post-Production Award:
"Ev Seni Acıtan Yerdir" / Atakan Yılmaz, Ceren Taşcı
"Sucuk Olmak" / Volkan Durmuş, Onur Kemal Karakuş - Production Support Awards (The TamTam, Rollart Film):
"Mustafa Jones" / Yiğit Erkol, Evrim İnci
"Son Zamanlarda Hep Yanlış" / Ahmet Arslan, Ekrem Ayhan Çakay
Local Projects
- Honorable Mentions:
"Bir Pazar Akşamında Nergis Kokusu" / Çağıl Saydam, Hazal Bayar, Tuncer Mert
"Motivasyon" / Mustafa Gönülver, Sezer Koç - Best Project:
"Sucuk Olmak" / Volkan Durmuş, Onur Kemal Karakuş
National Projects
- Honorable Mention:
"Seçim Günü" / Deniz Cengiz - Best Project:
"Ölüm Bizi Ayırana Dek" / Deniz Koloş, Onur Güler
International Fiction Film Category
- Best Film: "Crust" / Jens Kevin Georg
- Second Best Film: "Street Light" / Romain Dumont
- Third Best Film: "154" / Andrea Sbarbaro, Riccardo Copreni
National Animation Film Category
- Honorable Mention: "Echo" / Mehveş Topçuoğlu
- Best Animation Film: "Cut from the Dead" / Elif Dönmez, Deniz Koçyiğit
National Documentary Category
- Honorable Mention: "Ufku & Ülviye" / Erkan Tahhuşoğlu
- Best Documentary: "İyi Ölüm" / Hasan Ete
National Fiction Film Category
- Best Film: "Neredeyse Kesinlikle Yanlış" / Cansu Bayar
- Second Best Film: "Dilan Hakkında Konuşmalıyız" / Umut Şilan Oğurlu
- Third Best Film: "Mükemmel" / Ece Dizdar
- Best Director: "Eksi Bir" / Ömer Ferhat Özmen
- Best Cinematography: "Neredeyse Kesinlikle Yanlış" / Barış Özbiçer
- Best Art Direction: "Eksi Bir" / Hülya Karakaş
- Best Editing: "Dilan Hakkında Konuşmalıyız" / Doruk Kaya
- Best Screenplay: "Mori" / Yakup Tekintangaç
- Best Actor: "Neredeyse Kesinlikle Yanlış" / Rahaf Armanazi