The 14th edition of Meetings on the Bridge was held between 5 and 16 April within the scope of the 38th Istanbul Film Festival with the support of Anadolu Efes. 
The projects and films that received the Meetings on the Bridge awards were announced at a reception hosted by French Palais on Friday, 12 April.
Meetings on the Bridge is providing an opportunity for filmmakers to hold the first international presentations for their new film projects at Film Development Workshop and Neighbours Platform and films in post-production at Work in Progress. Meetings on the Bridge aims to pave the way for co-productions for cultural exchange and financial support. This year 11 fiction and 2 documentary feature film projects from Turkey are selected from among 121 applications.
20 projects and 8 films in post-production from Turkey and its neighbouring countries Georgia, Iran, Egypt, Romania, Ukrania, Lebanon and Greece presented their projects and films. Directors and producers had a total of 350 meetings with 130 international professionals and took the first steps of co-production partnerships.
Film Development Workshop jury members Oana Giurgiu (Producer / Libra Film ), Remi Burah (CEO / ARTE France Cinema), Gabor Greiner (Head of Acquisitions / Films Boutique), Martina Bleis (Co-Head & Curator / Berlinale Co-Production Market) and Nicos Panayotopoulos (Screenwriter & Novelist, / Mediterranean Film Institute) selected the award winning projects after pitchings.
Meetings on the Bridge Award Ceremony started with speeches of Istanbul Film Festival Director Kerem Ayan, Head of Meetings on the Bridge Gülin Üstün and French Regional Audiovisual Attaché Christophe Pécot.
Award winning projects
The director Zeynep Dadak and the producers Zeynep Ekmekçi and Pınar Bağcı of the project ELECTRIC SLEEP received the Meetings on the Bridge Award of 30.000 TL from Gülin Üstün.
The Film Development Workshop and the Neighbours Platform projects were all eligible for the 8000 Euro CNC Award. The award was presented to Myriam El Hajj, the director and Myriam Sassine, the producer of the project COMMEDIA by Mr Consul Général Bertrand Buchwalter.
Melodika Sound Award was presented to Amber İşbilen, the director of the project SELDA by Taylan Oğuz, the co-founder of Melodika.
Dell Precision Award, given for the first time this year was presented to Banu Sıvacı, the director and Zeynep Koray, the producer of the project THE SOLOIST by DELL Country Marketing Manager Belit Funda.
The producer Müge Özen and the director Orçun Behram of the project THE FUNERAL received the GeniusPark Special Effects Award from Sema Duran, the coordinator in GeniusPark.
The Mediterranean Film Institute (MFI) Script and Development Workshop Award was presented to the director Zeynep Dadak and the producers Zeynep Ekmekçi and Pınar Bağcı of the project ELECTRIC SLEEP.
Seyap Award, also given for the first time this year was presented by producer Yamaç Okur to the director Nejla Demirci and producer Mesut Ulutaş for their project GÜNEŞ.
Transilvania Pitch Stop Award for Meetings on the Bridge awards was given by producer Oana Giurgiu to the director Ali Ercivan and producer Engin Palabıyık of the project I WILL SURVIVE.
Postbıyık Sound Production Award, specific for the Neighbours selection was presented by Yalın Özgencil and Sertaç Toksöz to the director Mohamed Siam and the producer Guillaume de Seille, of the project BLOOD AND HONEY.
Work in Progress Awards
This year 8 films from Turkey and neighbouring countries attended Work In progress. The Work in Progress jury members Agatha Valentin (Partner / Totem Films), Giorgo Gosetti (Director / Venice Days), Ineke Kanters (Producer, Managing Director / The Film Kitchen) has decided on the award winning films after watching 5 films at the private screenings held at Soho House Istanbul and the meetings held with the filmmakers.
The award winning films at Work in Progress workshop are:
30.000 TL Anadolu Efes Award was presented to the director Pelin Esmer and producer Dilde Mahalli of the film QUEEN LEAR by Anadolu Efes Turkey General Manager Tuğrul Ağırbaş.
Color Up Award was presented to the director Eytan İpeker and producer Yoel Meranda of the film MISS HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR by Burak Turan, the colorist of Color Up.
Daire Creative Key Art Design Award was presented to the director Pelin Esmer and producer Dilde Mahalli of the film QUEEN LEAR by Arda Aktaş, the co-founder of Daire Creative.
The Başka Sinema Award was presented to director Nesimi Yetik and producer Betül Esener of the film IT’S ALL ABOUT PEACE AND HARMONY by Cenan Tüzel, the coordinator of Başka Sinema.
Paz Digital Communication Awards was presented to the director Pelin Esmer and producer Dilde Mahalli of the film QUEEN LEAR by the Head of Strategy and Digital Communication of Paz Film Agency Simge Tezel.
Cinema Talks and Screenings
This year’s Meetings on the Bridge Cinema Talks hosted 6 cinema talks, 5 case studies, 1 film screening, 2 web series screenings and Meet the French Funds and Script Workshops event supported by the French Consulate in Istanbul at French Institute in Istanbul, Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat and Soho House Istanbul.
Cinema Talks took off with the screening and case study of Tolga Karaçelik‘s film Butterflies that is awarded at Sundance Film Festival.
Young audience and filmmakers showed genuine interest in events. Creators of the new series Bozkır, Bartu Ben and Dogs of Berlin delivered firsthand information and knowhow to the audience.
From idea to the screen, the development of Emin Alper’s latest film A Tale of Three Sisters was shared as a road map with young filmmakers.
Each year, Cinema Talks focuses on post-production process. Speakers gave detailed information on color grading at Post Production: Color Grading talk.
Meet the French Funds and Script Workshops event was supported by the French Institute in Istanbul. French film fund and script workshop representatives provided enlightening information on application procedures and regulations.
With the collaboration of Danish Culture, Us Embassy in Ankara, Swedish Consulate and #SusmaBitsin a talk on gender equality in film industry was held.
Israel Consulate General of Istanbul contributed to Loving Your Mistakes talk that brought together international producers for experience sharing on mistakes that are made during production and how to transfer them into know-how for the future projects.
All festival, film fund and co-production market representatives attending Meetings on the Bridge joined to Meet the Funds, Markets and Festivals session to introduce their submission process along with rules and regulations.
Meetings on the Bridge Cinema Talks ended with Travel the World with Your Documentary talk that hosted accomplished filmmaker Ayşe Toprak along with international guests.
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