2026 Istanbul Film Festival | Awards

 

45th Istanbul Film Festival

GOLDEN TULIP COMPETITION

Members of the Jury: David Mackenzie (president), Tanja Meissner, Ekin Koç, Prof. Dr. Aslı Tunç, Rodrigo Areias

Golden Tulip Best Film

Supported with a monetary prize of 30,000 Euros given by Eczacıbaşı Group. This award is given to the producer of the selected 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
Those Who Whistle After Dark
(Türkiye, Bulgaria, Germany)

Best Actor
Kemal Burak Alper
Dead Dogs Don’t Bite
(Türkiye)

Special Mention
Kota / Hen
Dir: György Pálfi
(Germany, Greece, Hungary)

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Members of the Jury: Gizem Kızıl, Meriç Aral, Levent Türkan

Best Short Film

The director of the winning film is presented with 200.000 TL supported by Anadolu Efes.

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
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

This award is supported with a monetary prize of 800,000 TL supported by Anadolu Efes. The prize is divided among the producers and the director.

32 Meters
Dir: Morteza Atabaki
(Türkiye, Qatar, Iran)

Best Screenplay

Ziya Demirel & Yusuf Tan Demirel
The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)

Best Cinematography

Reşat Okan Candemir
Goat501
(Türkiye)

Best Editing

Morteza Atabaki
32 Meters
(Türkiye, Qatar, Iran)

Best Actress

Esra Dermancıoğlu
The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)

Best Actor

Burak Dakak
About My Mom
(Türkiye)

Best Supporting Actress

Çağdaş Ekin Şişman
The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)

Best Supporting Actor

Özer Keçeci
The Greatest Funeral Hits
(Türkiye)

Best Art Direction

Elif Öner
Dump of Untitled Pieces
(Türkiye)

Best Original Music

Efe Demiral
Dump of Untitled Pieces

INDEPENDENT PRIZES

FİLM-YÖN PRIZE

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
Bonds, Roots and Passions
(Türkiye)

BSB PRIZE

Members of the Jury of the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Türkiye: Ersan Ocak, Esin Özalp Öztürk, Ozan Turgut

Best Documentary
2m2
Dir: Volkan Üce

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.

FIPRESCI PRIZE

Members of the Jury of the International Federation of Film Critics: Selim Eyüboğlu, Mohamed Nabil Abdelhakim, Nada Azhari Gillon

Best Film – Golden Tulip Competition
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.

SİYAD PRIZE

Members of the Jury of the Film Critics Association: Fırat Ataç, Necla Algan, Kerem Bumin

Best Film
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…