Elchin Musaoğlu is an Azerbaijani theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2016, he was honored with the title “Honored Art Worker of Azerbaijan” and is a member of the Azerbaijan Union of Cinematographers and the European Film Academy. He has directed and written over 80 documentaries and fiction films, receiving awards at international festivals. His most well-known films are “The 40th Door” (2008, Gold Remi Award for Best Foreign Film at the Houston Film Festival) and “Nabat” (2014, Venice premiere, Oscar longlist). Musaoğlu is also the founder of the Young Filmmakers Club and Cinema House production company. One of his recent projects is “Maryam” (2023), co-produced with TRT. He has served as a jury member at international festivals and is currently the Director of the Arts and Documentary Films Studio at Azerbaijan Television.
Mehmet Açar (b. 1963) graduated from Boğaziçi University with a degree in English Language and Literature and completed his master’s in Cinema-TV at Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts. Since 1989, he has worked in the press and written film criticism, becoming one of Türkiye’s leading cinema writers. He served as editor-in-chief of Sinema magazine for 12 years, contributing significantly to Turkish film culture both as a critic and editor. In addition, he has taught film theory, film analysis, and cinema history at various universities and institutions, mentoring new generations of filmmakers. He continues to write film criticism and articles on cinema.
Sinan Taymin Albayrak was born in 1973 in Germany and moved to Turkey at the age of 9. Interested in theatre from a young age, he began his acting career at Ankara State Theatre, continued his studies at Hacettepe State Conservatory, and completed his education at Istanbul State Conservatory. He gained stage experience at Bakırköy Municipal Theatre and Eskişehir City Theatres, while also starting his television and series career. His notable TV series include “Kasaba Doktoru”, “Mehmet: Fetihler Sultanı”, and “Kanunsuz Topraklar”. In cinema, he has played leading roles in “Sis ve Gece” and “Bayrampaşa: Ben Fazla Kalmayacağım”. Sinan Taymin Albayrak continues to act in major Turkish cinema and television productions.
Andrea Taschler graduated from the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest and has worked in the film industry since 2000. After gaining experience as a freelance line producer, she founded Mirage Film (now Andromeda Films) in 2010, establishing it as a hub for bold and innovative storytelling. She is a member of the European Film Academy, an alumna of EAVE, and was selected for Producers on the Move in 2013, collaborating with leading Hungarian and international directors. Her filmography includes “Szabolcs Hajdu’s White Palms” and “Bibliothèque Pascal” (Berlinale), “Mirage” (Toronto premiere), Kristóf György’s debut selected at Cannes, as well as “Genesis” (Berlinale 2018), “Hier” (Locarno 2018), and “Catharsy”s (Tallinn 2018). In 2019, she partnered with Casablanca-based Eclipse Films on international projects such as “Alkebulan”, bridging African and Eastern European cinema.
Narges Abyar, an acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and author with a background in Persian literature, began her writing career in 1997 and has published over thirty books for children, young adults, and adults. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, she has written and directed five internationally recognized feature films: “Objects in Mirror” (2013), “Track 14”3 (2014), “Breath” (2016, Iran’s submission for the 90th Academy Awards), “When the Moon Was Full” (2019), and “Pinto” (2021). Abyar has also directed short and documentary films, two period drama series (“Savushun”, “Drunkard Morning”), and served as a jury member at major film festivals in Iran, India, Belarus, and Estonia. Her work reflects a deep commitment to human experience and social justice in global cinema.
Born in 1981, Sinan Sertel graduated from Istanbul Technical University before pursuing film studies at the New York Film Academy. He has written and directed four short films and two feature-length films. His cinematic journey began with No Signal, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2010. His debut feature film, “One Day A Child” (2018), received Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay awards at the FICTS International Film Festival in Iran. His second feature, “The Hero Inside” (2021), competed at prestigious festivals including Adana, Malatya, and Bosphorus International Film Festivals, earning multiple accolades such as Best Director, Best Music, and Best Editing. Sertel continues to engage in both theoretical and practical work in the field of cinema and is currently developing his new feature film, “Elisa”.
Tülay Gökçimen, born in Istanbul in 1981, began her television career in 2001 at Kanal 7 and entered the documentary field with “The Dance of Glass and Fire”. She has filmed in crisis regions such as Syria, Palestine, Myanmar, and East Turkestan. Her notable documentaries include “Exile”, “The Cry”, “Children of War”, “Good Night Rohingya”, “We Will Stay Here”, and “Named Genocide”. She also directed biographical and investigative films like “The Unsung Hero Behind a Generation” (about M. Celaleddin Ökten), “24 Hours in Syrian Prisons”, “Women of Resistance Bangladesh”, and “Survive”. As the founder of the Human Movie Team, she continues to produce multimedia content focused on global justice. Gökçimen is also the author of two books: “The Cry” and “If I Filmed It, It Would Be a Documentary”.
Halil Kardaş, a Yıldız Technical University graduate, has worked as a film producer since 2010. In 2018, he founded Film Code, producing feature films, documentaries, and digital content for national and international platforms. His notable works include “The Announcement” (Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize, 2018), “A Whisper of Carnation” (Tokyo IFF, 2022), “The Hero Inside”, “The Hoop”, “Yozgat Blues”, and “Elephant Graveyard”. As executive producer, he contributed to “The Mute”, “The Pigeon Thieves” and “One Day A Boy”. Since 2021, he has served on the Foreign Film Production Support Committee of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and completed the EAVE training program in 2022.
