Istanbul Film Festival

The largest, most established, and most influential film event in Turkey, the Istanbul Film Festival has over the past 36 years, presented Istanbul audiences with a total of 5,326 films, showcasing the cinema of 109 countries, and attracting a total audience number of 3,947,000. With an attendance exceeding 100,000 in 2018, it is also considered the biggest Turkish film festival. Established in 1982 as a film week, and accredited by FIAPF in 1989, the Festival aims at encouraging the development of cinema in Turkey and promoting films of quality in the Turkish market. As such, the Festival incorporates the “Meetings on the Bridge” co-production market, and within the frame of this programme, the competitive Feature Film Project Development and Work-in-Progress workshops in order to support the Turkish film industry and Turkish film professionals.

Showcasing Turkish cinema as the most active promotional, international platform in Turkey, the Istanbul Film Festival features five competitions: the International Competition and the National Competition--awarding the Golden Tulip as their grand prizes--the National Documentary and National Short Film competitions, and the international Human Rights in Cinema competition supported by the Eurimages. The festival also awards the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film prize for films produced in Turkey.

The Festival each year screens around 200 feature films, hosts 300 guests from abroad, and takes place in April.