The jury members who will evaluate films competing in the documentary and short film categories of the 14th Bosphorus Film Festival, organized by the Bosphorus Culture and Arts Foundation with Anadolu as its Global Communication Partner, have been announced.
The festival, which will be held from Nov. 8-15 with the support of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry’s General Directorate of Cinema, will feature director and producer Abdullah Harun Ilhan, Bahriye Kabadayi Dal and academic and director Musa Ak on its documentary film jury.
The short film jury will consist of cinematographer Emre Pekcakir, Slovenian-Italian director and screenwriter Martin Turk and Austrian actress Sarah Zaharanski.
Diverse figures in documentary cinema
Abdullah Harun Ilhan, whose work in cinema and photography has been featured at international festivals, is known for projects he has directed and produced, as well as photography exhibitions and work carried out across different regions.
Ilhan, who holds two master’s degrees in cinema, develops projects in Turkish, English and Arabic.
Bahriye Kabadayi Dal, who continues to work in documentary cinema, won the Turkish Film Critics Association (SIYAD) Best Documentary Award for her first feature-length documentary, “Devrimci Genclik Koprusu” (Revolutionary Youth Bridge).
Dal, who founded Tarcin Film in 2013, has documentaries including “Bogazici Baliklari” (Fish of Bosphorus), “Hakkari’nin Gizemli Taslari” (The Mysterious Stones of Hakkari), “Baksi, Utopyadan Gercege” (Baksi, From Utopia to Reality), “Denizlerin Koruyuculari” (Guardians of the Seas) and “Horona Duranlar” in her filmography.
Musa Ak, who completed his undergraduate and master’s studies at Erciyes University’s Faculty of Communication and earned his doctorate from Istanbul University’s Department of Radio, Television and Cinema, is known for his academic work on documentary and digital cinema.
Ak has participated in national and international festivals with documentaries including “Tuzdan Hayaller” (Dreams of Salt), “Bir Orkestranin Izinde” (Searching for ‘The Band’), “Cerde,” “Kafali,” “Tutunmak,” “Turab” and “Mada,” as well as the fiction film “Is.”
He serves as an assistant professor at Karabuk University’s Safranbolu Turker Inanoglu Faculty of Communication.
Ak is also the author of the book “Dijitallesme ve Yeni Medya Doneminde Belgesel Film Estetigi” (Digitalization and Documentary Film Aesthetics in New Media Era).
Short film jury
Emre Pekcakir, a member of the short film jury, has worked as a cinematographer on numerous short and feature-length productions.
In 2011, Pekcakir was nominated for Best Cinematographer at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival for “Hangi Film” and has worked on productions including “Balayi,” “Son Hasat,” “Sut Ciftligi,” “Iyi Bir Aile Degiliz” and “Mori.”
Slovenian director and screenwriter Martin Turk studied film and television directing at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) in Ljubljana.
His films have been screened at international festivals, including the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, and he has directed four feature films and numerous shorts.
Turk serves as an assistant professor of film at the University of Nova Gorica’s School of Arts.
Austrian actress and voice artist Sarah Zaharanski works across film, television, theater and radio.
Zaharanski has performed at arts institutions including Berlin’s Schaubuhne and the Salzburg Festival. Her film work includes “Woodland,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), “Soldier Monika,” which was selected for the competition section of the Torino Film Festival, and the award-winning short film “Dear Mother.”
The program of the 14th Bosphorus Film Festival and updates on the event are available on the festival’s official website and social media accounts.