Organised by İKSV within the scope of the Istanbul Film Festival and with the main support of Anadolu Efes, Meetings on the Bridge will bring together filmmakers from Türkiye and international film professionals from 23 countries in its 20th year.
As part of Meetings on the Bridge, which aims to support international collaborations, projects selected for the Film Development Workshop, Work in Progress Platform, and Short Film Workshop will be presented to industry professionals, including international producers, sales agents, fund representatives, and festival programmers. One-on-one meetings with guests will also take place.
The film projects will be presented by AC Coppens — founder of The Catalysts, strategist, curator, and a speaker and moderator invited by some of the world’s leading festivals.
As Türkiye's first film market, Meetings on the Bridge will also host Cinema Talks with the participation of national and international experts. These sessions will be free and open to the public, focusing on current topics in the cinema industry.
This year, Meetings on the Bridge will take place from April 15 to 17 at Borusan Music House, HOPE Alkazar, Yapı Kredi Culture Center, and Atlas Cinema.
The Istanbul Film Festival's Cinema Honorary Award will be presented during the Meetings on the Bridge Award Ceremony to Gülin Üstün, who joined the programme in 2006 and served as the director from 2010 to 2023.
20th Meetings on the Bridge Awards announced
At the award ceremony, the following awards will be presented to the projects in the Film Development Workshop, Work in Progress Platform, and Short Film Workshop:
General Awards
OGM Pictures Debut Film Encouragement Award – 100,000 ₺
“Breaking into the Industry” Mentorship Programme Participation Award
Film Development Workshop
ARTEKino International Award – € 6,000
Meetings on the Bridge Award – ₺ 100,000
Fono Film Post-Production Award
Melodika Sound Award
Filmarka Equipment Award
MFI Script Lab Award
Work in Progress Platform
Anadolu Efes Award – ₺100,000
Netflix Film Support Award – ₺150,000
Postgarden Color Award
Short Film Workshop
Lumix Pro Support Award
Depo Film Short Film Award – ₺ 50,000
Square Eyes Counseling Award
Jury members announced
The jury of the Film Development Platform, which aims to support 8 fiction and documentary feature film projects in the development stage, includes Anke Petersen, producer and head of Jyoti Film from Germany; Mayalen de Croisoeuil, Senior Sales Representative at Pathé International from France; and screenwriter-director Nisan Dağ from Türkiye.
The jury of the Work in Progress Platform, which features 8 feature films that have largely completed shooting and are in post-production, includes Marcello Paolillo, project manager and producer at Locarno Pro, the industry section of the Locarno Film Festival from Switzerland; Tine Klint, head and sales agent of LevelK from Denmark; and screenwriter-director Tunç Şahin from Türkiye.
The jury of the Short Film Workshop, which will support 4 short film projects in the development stage, includes Berry Hahn, producer and sales agent at Square Eyes from Austria; director-screenwriter Selcen Ergun from Türkiye; and Tim Redford, director of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival from France, who will evaluate the projects in this category.
Cinema Talks
As part of the 20th Meetings on the Bridge, Cinema Talks will be held between April 15–17 at Yapı Kredi Culture Center and HOPE Alkazar. These public sessions will include panels and talks on topics such as: ‘Rethinking Competitiveness, Copyright and Film Cooperation’, ‘An Outlook on Film & AI - Visions of the Future’, ‘Film Funds and the Ethics of Geopolitics and Finding the Right Story: Current Creative Trends in Documentary Storytelling.’
Supporters & Collaborations
In its 20th year, Meetings on the Bridge is supported by main sponsor Anadolu Efes, first film sponsor OGM Pictures, and award sponsors including ARTE Kino, Netflix, Fono Film, MFI (Mediterranean Film Institute), Tallinn Film Festival, Postgarden, Melodika, Filmarka, Panasonic Lumix Experience Center, Square Eyes, and Depo Film.
Institutional supporters include the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Institut Français Türkiye, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Istanbul, and the Swedish Consulate.
MUBI is the event sponsor; Atlas Cinema, Borusan Music House, HOPE Alkazar, Istanbul Cinema Museum, and Yapı Kredi Culture and Art Center are venue sponsors, while Başka Sinema supports the event as a promotional sponsor.
International collaborations
To support filmmakers from Türkiye in accessing international training programmes, Meetings on the Bridge continues partnerships with Tallinn Film Festival and MFI Script Lab while also collaborating with Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Hamburg Film Fund as part of the Germany-Türkiye Co-Production Development Fund. This year, 7 Turkish-German co-productions received support. Additionally, the BerlinAir programme will send two directors to Berlin as guest artists.
International guests
Programmers from leading festivals such as Berlin, Clermont-Ferrand, FidMarseille, Göteborg, IDFA, Locarno, Marrakech, Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, Sofia, Tallinn, Tampere, Venice, Vila do Conde, Visions du Réel, and the New Zealand Film Festival will attend to evaluate post-production films.
Representatives from Eurimages, Arte, German Films, MOIN, Medienboard, Sorfond film funds, and the Midpoint Institute will meet with project owners to explore co-production opportunities.
Sales agents from companies such as Alpha Violet, ArtHood, Beta Cinema, Cat&Docs, Cercamon, Films Boutique, Indie Sales, Intramovies, LevelK, Loco, MPM Premium, Pathé, Pluto, Reason8, Square Eyes, Taskovski, and TrustNordisk will also take part in Meetings on the Bridge.
