Meetings on the Bridge (MoB) is the first co-production market and a platform for meeting and training for the international film industry in Turkey.

During Meetings on the Bridge workshops, which take place within the scope of Istanbul Film Festival, filmmakers from Turkey and its neighbouring countries present  their film projects and films to international producers, representatives of festivals and funds, distributors, sales agents and broadcasters in order to take the first steps to find financial and artistic partnerships.

MoB, which started as a series of film talks in 2006, gained momentum thanks to increased interest from the growing film industry in Turkey and the support from international filmmakers and film institutions.

Film Development Workshop, started as a series of cinema talks in 2008, is a co-production market that brings filmmaker from Turkey and its neighbouring countries together with the international industry.

In the first years of the workshop, directors and producers of the participating projects had training sessions on pitching techniques. In 2015, a new training program was introduced with international consultants and filmmakers in order to increase the quality of the films from the workshop and to provide support for the development processes. Before the directors, scriptwriters and producers start with the preparation of the project pitchings, they get the possibility to do group work on script development, production, pitching, marketing, social media, and crowd funding. Another goal of the group work is to increase collaborations between the filmmakers by providing them with a network and to stimulate a sharing of experiences and knowledge.

In 2011, the German-Turkish Co-Production Development Fund was created through collaboration with two regional German funds: Hamburg Schleswig Holstein and Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg. The fund aims to provide support for co-productions between the two countries and is supporting various s German- Turkish co-productions in development every year.

In Work in Progress, initiated in 2012, feature films and documentaries from Turkey that are in the post-production make their first presentations to the international festivals, sales agents and distribution companies and the broadcasters as a part of the MoB. Each year films from Turkey start their festival journeys here in Istanbul during this workshop where they get introduced to national and international sales companies.

The Neighbours Platform was started in 2015 in order to further strengthen the information exchange within the film industry of the region and enhance financial and artistic collaborations between filmmakers and film institutions in Turkey and its neighbouring countries,. Via this platform, international and national film industry is presented with an opportunity to discover young talents from the neighbouring countries of Turkey, creating new trends in film and to hear the stories of established filmmakers with international appeal.

Through the funding it received in 2016 and 2017, MoB became the first film event that received support from the Creative Europe program. In 2017, MoB held trailer and short film workshops with support from Istanbul Development Agency. Trailer Workshop, which was held in Turkey for the first time, brings together editors and producers who have films completed or in post-production. It took the first steps to increase the production of high quality trailers in Turkey while emphasizing the importance of trailer production in the promotion and marketing of films. Short Film Workshop, which was held in 2017 for the first time, aimed at new generation of young filmmakers who are working on their first or second short features, aspires to draw attention to the importance of short films in the film industry and contribute to the increase in productions that are of international standards.

MoB has become one of the building blocks of the Turkish film industry by providing support in the completion of many films which later had their premieres at international festivals and to help the films reach audiences, as well as undertaking an intermediary role in providing the international film professionals this platform where they can learn about talent and new productions from Turkey.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

In its 13th year, Meetings on the Bridge is known as a platform that contributes to the production of films in Turkey and discovering of filmmakers. We are proud that films attending the Meetings on the Bridge get to have their premieres in esteemed international festivals. Our work is expanding through steady collaborations that we develop with international institutions.

Between July 24 and August 3, 2014, as part of the 600th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Poland, Istanbul Film Festival - Meetings on the Bridge held ‘A Look at Turkish Cinema’ in collaboration with Poland Film Center and Adam Mickiewisz Institute. Following the event during which filmmakers, projects and films from Turkey had their presentations, relationships with Poland grew stronger, culminating in the first-ever project from Turkey being accepted in the EKRAN+ project and jump starting of many co-productions between the two countries.

As part of the 400th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Turkey, Istanbul Film Festival – Meetings on the Bridge held Co-Production Meetings and a Panel in collaboration with Netherlands Film Festival – Holland Film Meetings during the Istanbul Filmfestival. A delegation comprised of directors and producers from Turkey later that year attended the Netherlands Film Festival event where various Turkish projects were presented. Following the events many co-productions were realized between the two countries.

For a list of Meetings on the Bridge films please visit.

For a promotional trailer of last year’s Meetings on the Bridge please visit.