JOHAN VAN DER KEUKEN NEW TALENT AWARD JURY

Aybüke Avcı

Aybüke Avcı completed her high school education at Galatasaray High School and graduated from the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema at Galatasaray University.

Aybüke Avcı completed her high school education at Galatasaray High School and graduated from the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema at Galatasaray University. She has worked in the fields of film programming and project development at institutions such as İBB Kültür AŞ and Akbank Sanat.Her first feature-length documentary, Tomato, Pepper, Depression (2024), premiered in the National Documentary Competition of the 43rd Istanbul Film Festival, where it received a Special Mention Award. The film was subsequently screened at numerous festivals and received awards including the Johan van der Keuken New Talent Award at the 18th Documentarist Istanbul Documentary Days and the Best Film Released on Digital Platforms Award at the 58th SİYAD Turkish Cinema Awards.

Bilge Taş

Bilge Taş completed her Master’s degree in Women’s Studies at Ankara University. During her PhD studies in Cinema, she focused on the political economy of film festivals.

Bilge Taş completed her Master’s degree in Women’s Studies at Ankara University. During her PhD studies in Cinema, she focused on the political economy of film festivals. In 2015, she conducted research as a visiting scholar in Film Festival Studies at the University of St Andrews. For the past 17 years, she has been engaging in rights-based advocacy and civil society work focusing on gender equality, cultural rights, and access to arts and culture. She is one of the founders of Pembe Hayat KuirFest, which has been organised since 2011. Currently, she continues to work as a mentor and consultant with civil society organisations in various fields, particularly in culture, the arts, and gender equality

Cem Kaya

Born in Schweinfurt in 1976, Cem Kaya worked as a producer, editor, and director for commercials and music videos after studying communication design at Merz Akademie.

Born in Schweinfurt in 1976, Cem Kaya worked as a producer, editor, and director for commercials and music videos after studying communication design at Merz Akademie. He directed Arabeks, which explores Turkey's internal migration music culture, and Remake, Remix, Rip-Off, a documentary on Yeşilçam’s copywriting tradition that premiered at Locarno. He is also the director of Love, Deutschmarks and Death (2022), which focuses on the music history of Turkish immigrants in Germany and won the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlinale. Blending rich archival material with an insightful, essayistic style, Kaya also actively works as a cinematographer.

BEST EDITING, CINEMATOGRAPHY AND SOUND JURY

Eli Haligua

Eli Haligua is a multi-award-winning Supervising Sound Editor and Re-recording Mixer based in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ peoples, crafting soundscapes internationally across film, documentary, television, and animation.

Eli Haligua is a multi-award-winning Supervising Sound Editor and Re-recording Mixer based in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ peoples, crafting soundscapes internationally across film, documentary, television, and animation.
His work has screened at top-tier film festivals across three continents. With 150+ credits, he has earned 11 awards and 9 nominations, including a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Sound Design in a Feature Documentary, an Emmy nomination, the Crystal Flamingo at the İzmir International Film and Music Festival, and the Antalya Golden Orange Award.

Meryem Yavuz

Meryem Yavuz was born and raised in Istanbul and studied cinema at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. In 2009, she was accepted into the Berlin Film Festival Talent Campus.

Meryem Yavuz was born and raised in Istanbul and studied cinema at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. In 2009, she was accepted into the Berlin Film Festival Talent Campus. The films and documentaries she worked on as a director of photography have been screened at major festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Venice, Sundance, and Toronto. She has taught cinematography at Bahçeşehir, Okan, and Kadir Has universities. She is a member of the Cinema TV Union and the Documentary Cinematographers Alliance, and serves as the vice president of the Cinematographers Association of Turkey (GYD). Her debut feature documentary project, currently in production, is supported by IDFA Bertha, Sundance, and Eurimages.

Tuvana Simin Günay

After completing her undergraduate studies in cinema at Istanbul University and the University of Wroclaw in Poland, she received her master's degree from Kadir Has University's Cinema-TV department.

After completing her undergraduate studies in cinema at Istanbul University and the University of Wroclaw in Poland, she received her master's degree from Kadir Has University's Cinema-TV department. After working in the directing department for a few years, she transitioned to film editing in 2020. In 2022, she became the first editor from Turkey to be selected for the Talents Sarajevo program organized by the Berlinale. Between 2022 and 2024, she served on the executive board of the Editors' Solidarity (KUDA), the association of film editors in Turkey. Many projects she edited were featured in the selections of major international and national festivals and received editing awards. She currently teaches Advanced Editing at Kadir Has University and, alongside her editing career, she also works as a director. Her latest film, "Dank," has competed as a finalist in numerous festivals.