Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival
Since 2018, the Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival has been dedicated to presenting innovative works that expand the possibilities of experimental cinema and contemporary moving image practices. As Türkiye's first international festival devoted exclusively to experimental cinema, the festival brings together artists, filmmakers, curators, researchers, and audiences around diverse approaches to image, sound, time, materiality, and technology.
The festival is founded on the belief that experimental cinema is not a fixed genre, but an evolving field of artistic inquiry — a space where new forms of perception, storytelling, and cinematic expression emerge. Each edition creates encounters between historical and contemporary practices through an international competition, curated screenings, retrospectives, exhibitions, expanded cinema presentations, audiovisual performances, talks, and educational programmes. By placing different generations, geographies, and artistic approaches in dialogue, the festival seeks to create new ways of experiencing and understanding moving image practices.
Now in its eighth edition, the festival welcomes both emerging and established practitioners working across analogue, digital, computational, and hybrid forms. We are interested in works that challenge cinematic conventions, explore new relationships between image and sound, and engage with the aesthetic, cultural, social, environmental, and technological questions of our time.
The Jellyfish Award
The Jellyfish Award takes its name from the Festival's symbol, the jellyfish, a living organism defined by fluidity rather than rigid form, evoking continuous transformation and responsiveness to its surroundings. Existing between transparency and complexity, fragility and resilience, the jellyfish reflects a way of thinking beyond fixed forms, embodying the openness, curiosity, and spirit of experimentation that define experimental cinema.
The Jellyfish Award is presented to one selected work across all competition categories, regardless of format, duration, or category. It celebrates a work that embodies the Festival's spirit of experimentation through a distinctive artistic vision, an original approach to form, and a willingness to explore new possibilities in cinema.
Jury Awards
The Jury may recognize outstanding works across all competition categories through special awards and mentions. These recognitions are not limited to specific categories and may be presented in response to distinctive artistic approaches, innovative forms, and significant contributions to experimental cinema.
Possible Jury Awards may include, but are not limited to:
Award for Artistic Vision
Recognizing a work with a distinctive and compelling artistic approach.
Award for Innovation in Form
Recognizing bold experimentation with cinematic structure, language, and form.
Award for Image and Sound
Recognizing exceptional approaches to visual composition, sound, and audiovisual relationships.
Award for Critical Engagement
Recognizing works that offer thoughtful, challenging, or innovative perspectives on social, cultural, political, or historical subjects.
Award for Emerging Voice
Recognizing a new and distinctive artistic voice within experimental cinema.
The Jury reserves the right to determine the number, scope, and nature of awards and mentions according to the artistic qualities of the submitted works.
To apply for this job please visit https://filmfreeway.com/istanbulexperimentalfilmfestival.