45th ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS PRESENTED
The 45th edition of Istanbul Film Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored by N Kolay, concluded with an award ceremony held on 19 April at The Marmara Taksim. A total of 39 films competed within the framework of the festival.
At the award ceremony, the winners of the Golden Tulip Competition, the Short Film Competition, and the New Visions Awards were revealed. The independent juries of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), the Directors Association of Türkiye (Film-Yön), the Turkish Association of Film Critics (SİYAD) and the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Türkiye (BSB) also presented their prizes at the ceremony.
45th ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
9–19 April 2026
GOLDEN TULIP COMPETITION
Members of the Jury: David Mackenzie (president), Tanja Meissner, Ekin Koç, Prof. Dr. Aslı Tunç, Rodrigo Areias
Golden Tulip Best Film
Memory of Princess Mumbi
Dir: Damien Hauser
(Kenya, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia)
Producers: Damien Hauser, Kaleem Aftab, Shandra Apondi
Special Jury Prize
Resurrection
Dir: Bi Gan
(China, France, USA)
Best Director
Lise Akoka & Romane Gueret
Ma frère / Summer Beats
(France)
Best Screenplay
Markus Schleinzer & Alexander Brom
Rose
(Austria, Germany)
Best Actress
İnci Sefa Cingöz
Karanlıkta Islık Çalanlar / Those Who Whistle After Dark
(Türkiye, Bulgaria, Germany)
Best Actor
Kemal Burak Alper
Ölü Köpekler Isırmaz / Dead Dogs Don’t Bite
(Türkiye)
Special Mention (to all animals in films)
Kota / Hen
Dir: György Pálfi
(Germany, Greece, Hungary)
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Members of the Jury: Gizem Kızıl, Meriç Aral, Levent Türkan
Best Short Film
Yerçekimi / Gravity
Dir: Dalya Keleş
(Türkiye)
“For telling a coming-of-age story within the magical realism of cinema through a courageous narrative voice.”
Special Mention
Aşk ve Diğerleri / Love and the Others
Dir: Berna Sitera Değirmen
(Türkiye)
“For employing a naive voice to remind us of love's capacity to set us free in a world where liberties are steadily shrinking.”
NEW VISIONS
Members of the Jury: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Murat Kılıç, Meryem Yavuz, Soner Alper, Meltem Naz Salduz
Seyfi Teoman Best Film Prize
32 Metre / 32 Meters
Dir: Morteza Atabaki
(Türkiye, Qatar, Iran)
Best Cinematography
Ziya Demirel & Yusuf Tan Demirel
En Güzel Cenaze Şarkıları / The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)
Best Editing
Morteza Atabaki
32 Metre / 32 Meters
(Türkiye, Qatar, Iran)
Best Actress
Esra Dermancıoğlu
En Güzel Cenaze Şarkıları / The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)
Best Actor
Burak Dakak
Annem Hakkında / About My Mom
(Türkiye)
Best Supporting Actress
Çağdaş Ekin Şişman
En Güzel Cenaze Şarkıları / The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)
Best Supporting Actor
Özer Keçeci
En Güzel Cenaze Şarkıları / The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)
Best Art Direction
Elif Öner
İsimsiz Eserler Mezarlığı / Dump of Untitled Pieces
(Türkiye)
Best Music
Efe Demiral
İsimsiz Eserler Mezarlığı / Dump of Untitled Pieces
(Türkiye)
INDEPENDENT AWARDS
International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI)
Members of the Jury of the International Federation of Film Critics: Selim Eyüboğlu, Mohamed Nabil Abdelhakim, Nada Azhari Gillon
Golden Tulip Competition – Best Film
Rose of Nevada
Dir: Mark Jenkin
(UK)
“For its excellent performance and storytelling, which begins as a ghost story or a science fiction tale. The film then unfolds into an extraordinary journey into the past, revisiting a town that once thrived before losing its community spirit.”
Directors Association of Türkiye (FİLM-YÖN)
Members of the Jury of the Directors Association of Türkiye: Hüseyin Karabey, Hatice Aşkın, Çiğdem Sezgin
Best Director (in memory of Osman Sınav)
Sunay Terzioğlu
Bağlar, Kökler ve Tutkular / Bonds, Roots and Passions
(Türkiye)
Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Türkiye (BSB)
Members of the Jury of the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Türkiye: Ersan Ocak, Esin Özalp Öztürk, Ozan Turgut
Documentary films from Türkiye - Best Documentary
2m2
Dir: Volkan Üce
(Belgium, Germany, Türkiye)
“As the Documentary Filmmakers Association (BSB), we award the documentary 2m² by unanimous vote, for making one of the most ultimate and existential questions of the immigrant experience —the issue of belonging and the final place of rest— visible through a powerful cinematographic language centred on death in a foreign land.”
Turkish Association of Film Critics (SİYAD)
Members of the Jury of the Film Critics Association: Fırat Ataç, Necla Algan, Kerem Bumin
Best Film
İsimsiz Eserler Mezarlığı / Dump of Untitled Pieces
Dir: Melik Kuru
(Türkiye)
“Our award goes to a debut film. Today, youth and young artists defend life and their art under the dominant pressure of the system. For its visual power that reminds us once again of the photographic and narrative magic of black and white, its content, and its solid plot.”
For more information about the juries of the festival: film.iksv.org/en/juries
Follow the Istanbul Film Festival on: Instagram I X I TikTok I Facebook I YouTube I Spotify
