Finalists Announced at the 4th International Digital Film Festival İstanbul
“Human-Centered Digital Transformation, Creativity and Shared Responsibility in Cinema” — 16-20 October 2026, İstanbul
Organized this year under the theme “Human-Centered Digital Transformation, Creativity and Shared Responsibility in Cinema”, the 4th International Digital Film Festival İstanbul (DFFI) invites audiences to rethink the cinema of the digital age along the axis of ethics, creativity and shared responsibility. Following applications from 27 countries, the Preliminary Jury evaluation process has been completed and the finalist films have been announced. Bringing together independent short films from different geographies of the world, the festival will take place in İstanbul on 16–20 October 2026.
Placing the question “Is a Shared Future Possible?” at its center, DFFI 2026 examines the effects of digital transformation on cinema from ethical, aesthetic and creative production perspectives. The festival regards technology not merely as a development that offers new production tools, but as a force that expands human imagination, multiplies narrative possibilities and redefines creative responsibility.
“We approach the new possibilities that digital transformation offers cinema from a perspective in which human creativity, ethical thinking and shared responsibility remain at the center. At DFFI, we brought this transformation into our festival programme early on; in 2024 we became the first film festival in Türkiye to open a separate competition category for AI-Assisted Films. Today, with the question 'Is a Shared Future Possible?', we focus not only on what technology makes possible in cinema, but on what kind of future we can build together with human creativity.”
DFFI 2026 Main Jury
The finalist works will be evaluated by the DFFI 2026 Main Jury, bringing together national and international masters from cinema and next-generation creative production fields.
This year's Main Jury includes: actress Mine Çayıroğlu, director, producer & screenwriter Hüseyin Karabey, director of photography Uğur İçbak, screenwriter & lecturer Hüseyin Kuzu, agency president Tümay Özokur, producer & visual effects supervisor Serkan Semiz, artist & director Alkan Avcıoğlu, screenwriter & director Andres Aloi, and director of photography Oleksandr Zemlyanyy.
18 Films Finalists Across Six Categories
Following the completion of the application and evaluation process, the Preliminary Jury selected three finalists in each of six main competition categories: Fiction, Animation, Documentary, AI-Assisted, Experimental and Fashion.
Animation:Hell — Parker Croft (USA) | Like Friend, Like Deer — Malek Eghbali (Iran) | Holy Heaveness — Farnoosh Abedi, Negah Khezre Fardyardad, Mohammad Ghaffari (Iran)
Documentary:Engelsiz Pedal — Cihan Emre Zengin (Türkiye) | Recife Tem Um Coraçao — Rodrigo Sena (Brazil) | The Village of Ballet Dancers — Fatih Diren (Türkiye)
AI-Assisted:Railbound — Jonathan Perry (USA) | Kiko's Odyssey — Nick Montori (Italy) | Ceremony — Mark Wachholz (Germany)
Experimental:Balerin — Erdal Ruhi Duran (Türkiye) | Trivakra — Sofia Angst (Brazil) | The Myth of Sisyphus — Elahe Sabari (Iran)
Fashion:Made In X — Sofia Ivanova-Kozhevnikova (United Kingdom) | Venus — Maria Nazarova (Georgia / Russia) | To-ma – Zaberu — Timur Skripnik (Russia)
DFFI 2026 Preliminary Jury
The DFFI Finalists were selected by the Preliminary Jury consisting of Zeliha İnci Asal, Gürkan Yücel, Onur Turgut and Serkan Yıldız.
A Shared Space for the Future of Cinema
During the festival, which will take place in İstanbul on 16–20 October 2026, Finalist and Official Selection film screenings, talks and industry meetings will bring together international cinema professionals, representatives of the creative industries and audiences. The films deemed worthy of awards in the main competition categories will be announced at the festival's closing and awards ceremony on 20 October.
Supporting independent film production, DFFI aims to make powerful stories, distinctive perspectives and creative modes of expression visible within the changing cinema ecosystem of the digital age. The festival positions cinema not merely as a venue for screenings, but as a meeting and thinking platform where creative labor, cultural dialogue and international collaborations flourish.
Keeping human creativity at the center of transformation, DFFI 2026 aims to open a shared space for reflection between the present and the future of cinema, with a selection spanning from traditional film production to narrative forms shaped by new technologies.
4th International Digital Film Festival İstanbul
16–20 October 2026 | İstanbul
