1. Dates

The 44th Istanbul Film Festival, organised by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts as a specialised competitive event, will take place 11-22 April 2025.

2. Aim

The aim of the Festival is to encourage the development of cinema in Turkey and promote the commercial distribution of films of quality in the Turkish market, to encourage the realisation of highly qualified films of art, to support the development thereof; to encourage future filmmakers and film professionals, and to create space for these individuals; to ensure that qualified film productions from Türkiye reach its viewers; to provide for these films to be screened for international film critics, festival directors, representatives of distributors and televisions; and thus contribute to the foreign promotion of the cinema of Türkiye.

3.Official Selection

44th Istanbul Film Festival's official selection includes the most recent and noteworthy films from different fields of cinematic production that reflect change and diversity, are of high quality, and can represent the art of cinema internationally. The programme is composed of the following elements in accordance with these criteria:
a) Golden Tulip Competition
b) Short Film Competition
c) New Visions
d) ) Non-competitive, informative sections, thematic sections; narrative features and documentaries can be selected for these sections.
e) Special sections

The final decision for selection and scheduling will be taken by the Festival Directorate. Producers, directors, distributors, film institutes, and diplomatic missions may propose titles.

Films from Türkiye to be included in the programme are selected by the Festival Directorate from among the submissions or by invitation. The festival reserves the right to not disclose information regarding the selection of films.

Films will not be considered for the official selection if released before 1 January 2024, or already released at cinemas, VOD, or streaming platforms in Turkey.

Films which have participated to any other public Istanbul screening event, including commercial releases, are not eligible for the Official Selection.

Turkish films which have won a Best Film Award at another festival in Türkiye are not eligible for the competition.

Films which have not been selected upon their submissions for previous editions even in the case of re-editing are not re-considered or included in the Official Selection.

Films included in the Official Selection undertake to use the festival laurel and, in case of winning an award, the award laurel on their official posters and to include the award in their media and promotional documents.

Competition films will be judged by juries determined by the Festival Directorate, and comprise directors, writers, producers, actors, critics, film historians, academics, and other individuals known for their artistic involvement in cinema.

The President of the Jury is appointed by the Festival Directorate. The jury designates its own working system. Members of the jury should view the films in competition, the screening arrangement of which is determined by the Festival Directorate, within the duration of the Festival, in formal screenings in movie theatres or in private screenings, individually or collectively.

The Festival Directorate keeps an observer with no voting rights at the deliberation session of the jury. The President of the Jury, before the decision is announced, submits to the Festival Directorate the minutes signed by all members.

In addition to the official festival awards bestowed by the juries, professional film guilds may also give parallel awards to the films included in the official selection.

The official awards of the festival are listed in detail in the relevant annex of the regulation.

The conditions for participation and submission from Türkiye for the official selection are detailed in the relevant annex of the regulation.

4. Golden Tulip Competition

a) Films in DCP format and a minimum duration of 60 minutes are eligible to be considered for the competition.
b) The final decision for selection and scheduling will be taken by the Festival Directorate. The Directorate will make every effort to secure that a third of the films in the Golden Tulip Competition will be from Türkiye.
c) The jury presents the “Golden Tulip” to the producer of the selected film as the grand prize.
d) The jury presents the “Kariyo&Ababay Special Jury Prize” to a film in the competition. The monetary prize is distributed ½ share to the producer and ½ share to the director of the film.
e) The Special Jury Prize and the Golden Tulip cannot be awarded to the same film.

Awards are given to single films, and cannot be shared.

New Visions

Open only to films from Türkiye, The New Visions section aims to encourage the realisation of highly qualified films of art in Türkiye, to support the industry's development thereof; to encourage future filmmakers and film professionals, and to create space for these individuals.
a) Films to be included in this section are selected and scheduled by the Festival Directorate from among submissions or by invitation.
b) Debut or sophomore films that are of a minimum of 60 minutes of duration are eligible for consideration in this section.
c)The jury presents the “Seyfi Teoman Award” to the director of the best film in this section. The awards are bestowed to single films and cannot be shared.

6. Short Film Competition

The aim of the Short Film Competition is to encourage the realisation of highly qualified short films of art in Türkiye, to support the development thereof; to make sure that the qualified products of the cinema of Türkiye reach its viewers; and thus contribute to the foreign promotion and development of the cinema of Türkiye; and to ensure that the Best Short Film Award is recognized as international.

Competition films are selected by the Festival Directorate's designated Short Film Advisory Board. The Board takes effort to ensure that half of the films to compete in this section are from among submitted short films from Türkiye. The Festival reserves the right to not disclose information regarding the selection of films.

The jury, upon evaluation of the films participating in the Short Film Competition, selects the Best Short Film. This award is given to a single film and cannot be shared.

7. Screening and Copies

The festival prefers that the screening files of film in the Official Selection are sent digitally. Digital copies should only be forwarded to the responsible festival staff.
a) Theatrical screenings of all films in the Official Selection will be in their original versions, with English and Turkish subtitles. The director and/or producers are obligated to provide subtitled copies or in the opposite case will send the dialogue list in English.
b) Film copies confirmed to be screened as part of the Official Selection must arrive in Istanbul for inspection, translation, and press screenings at least two weeks prior to the established screening date.
c) Both way shipment costs of physical copies will be paid by the Festival only if they are sent from and returned to their sources. In case the copy is shared with another festival, Istanbul Film Festival will pay for return transportation charges only.
d) Physical copies must be sent prepaid by the other festival. No collect shipments are accepted unless authorised by the Istanbul Film Festival. Storage, customs, insurance and handling charges in Turkey will be covered by the Istanbul Film Festival.
e) DCP copies will be returned within two weeks after the closing of the Festival. The consignee will be notified of the shipping details. The Festival is not responsible for storage fees at the airport.
f) The sender must be clearly printed on each physical copy. The participant needs to inform the Directorate of the film's title, dispatch method and date.
g) DCP copies must be sent to the Festival in their original hardcover cases clearly labelled with the title of the film.

8. Rights

The festival directorate reserves the right to disqualify films that do not meet or fall short of the technical specifications or qualifications required for public screening.
Participation in the 44th Istanbul Film Festival implies the acceptance of these regulations.The directorate reserves the right to amend the articles of this regulation.
All issues not covered by these general regulations will be resolved by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV).
The directorate reserves the right to amend the articles of this regulation.

ANNEX 1

44th Istanbul Film Festival
Submission and conditions for participation

ANNEX 2

44th Istanbul Film Festival
List of official awards