Aiming to support Turkey’s digital transformation in the cinema industry, the “International Digital Film Festival Istanbul” was held for the first time this year. The award ceremony, hosted by Doğuş University, emphasized the importance of digitalization in cinema and supported new generation filmmakers and their works.

Great Interest in the First Year of the Festival

The festival aims to promote strong stories and original works shot with a digital camera by supporting digital film production and viewing styles. In her opening speech, Festival President İlknur Doruker said, “We have launched the first edition of our festival, which focuses on digitalization in cinema and the transformation in conventional production and viewing styles. With the festival, we aim to provide a unique benefit by addressing quality cinema simultaneously with the transformation taking place with new technologies.”

Worldwide Participation and Jury Members

The festival, led by the New York-based Digital Film Academy, was realized with the support of Doğuş University, Crea Centers and Digital Film Center. The jury of the festival includes Turkey’s leading filmmakers Actress-Writer Nilüfer Açıkalın, Dr. Lect. Professor Eylem Özçimen, Screenwriter Hüseyin Kuzu, Cinematographer Ulaş Zeybek and Director – Screenwriter Murat Karahüseyinoğlu. In the first year of the festival, participants came from many countries of the world such as Turkey, America, Spain, Czech Republic, Greece, India and Pakistan.

Award Winning Films and Creative Names

In the main categories, Sergio Kotsovoulos won the “Best Animation” award for Echo, Volkan Güney Eker won the “Best Experimental” award for Larva, Mert Eşberk & Mihraç Can Bakıner won the “Best Documentary” award for What Now? and Shayhaq Baloch won the “Best Fiction” award for Chamm (The Trick). Mercan Dede won the “Best Music” award for Synthesis and the director of Synthesis, Şükrü Özçevik, won the “Best Art Direction” award.

”Best Actress” Virginia Pistritto won for Reversible, while “Best Actor” went to Tomi Fernandez for Reversible. Volkan Güney Eker won first prizes in the categories of “Best Director”, “Best Editing”, “Best Cinematography” and “Best Screenplay” for his film Larva. In the special awards given within the scope of the festival, Volkan Karataş received the “Best Film Reflecting the UN Sustainable Development Goals Theme” award for Absolute, and Marcia Haufrecht received the “Digital Film Academy” special award for Three Muses.

Special Awards and the Film that Best Reflects the Sustainable Development Goals Theme

“Absolute” won the “Best Film Reflecting the UN Sustainable Development Goals Theme” award in the special awards given within the scope of the festival. Volkan Karataş won the “Digital Film Academy” special award and Marcia Haufrecht won the “Three Muses” special award.

Award Ceremony with Wide Participation

The award ceremony was attended by participants from the worlds of cinema, academia, civil society, press and business, as well as the jury panel. This event took an important step in Turkey’s digital cinema world, aiming to support new talents and digitalized cinema understanding.