Finalists announced for the 25th Izmir International Short Film Festival

Over 200 films will be available to watch for free at the International Izmir Short Film Festival, which has been held in previous years with the contributions of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, the General Directorate of Cinema, Çiğli Municipality, Karşıyaka Municipality, Konak Municipality, İZQ, Migros, the Goethe-Institut, and the French Cultural Center.

The Izmir Short Film Festival, where 2 films will once again have the chance to qualify for the Academy Awards this year, is among the 120 festivals worldwide that hold the status of an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival.

There is extraordinary interest in the festival this year. A total of 4,222 films from 130 countries applied for the Golden Cat Awards in the national and international categories of animation, documentary, experimental, and fiction. Each film was meticulously evaluated one by one by the festival committee. Following a long-term effort, the films to be screened have been determined.

The films will be spread across the city through screenings at the festival's main venues, including the French Cultural Center, Karşıyaka Municipality Çatı Bostanlı, Buca Municipality Tarık Akan Youth Center, Karaca Cinema, and youth screenings to be held at universities.

Due to insufficient participation this year, a competitive section was not opened in the experimental category, while a total of 32 films were selected as finalists in the fiction, animation, and documentary categories. The festival program and jury members will be announced in the coming days.

The full list of films that have qualified to compete for the Golden Cat is as follows:

NATIONAL FICTION FINALIST FILMS

Mükemmel (Perfect), Director Ece Dizdar

Morî, Director Yakup Tekintangaç

Neredeyse Kesinlikle Yanlış (Almost Certainly Wrong), Director Cansu Baydar

Dilan Hakkında Konuşmalıyız (We Need to Talk About Dilan), Director Umut Şilan Oğurlu

Bir Aile (A Family), Director Murat Çetinkaya

Tavuk Suyuna Çorba (Chicken Soup), Director Deniz Büyükkırlı

Noksan (Deficient), Director Cem Demirer

Eksi Bir (Minus One), Director Ömer Ferhat Özmen

Rehber (The Guide), Director Mert Erez

Merhaba Anne, Benim, Lou Lou (Hello Mom, It's Me, Lou Lou), Director Atakan Yılmaz

Her Derde Deva (Cure for Everything), Director Kemal Burak Çuhadar

Görüşürüz Kaplumbağa (See You Turtle), Director Selin Öksüzoğlu

NATIONAL ANIMATION FINALIST FILMS

Kim? (Who?), Director Merve Yıldıran

Echo, Director Mehveş Topçuoğlu

Küçük Yıldız (Little Star), Director Esra Becan

Cut From The Dead, Directors Elif Dönmez, Deniz Koçyiğit

Kaçmandan Çok Korktum (I Was So Afraid You Would Run), Director F. Nur Özkaya

NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FINALIST FILMS

Haklı Mücadele (Rightful Struggle), Director Nebiye Arı

Mimas, Director Evrim İnci

İyi Ölüm (Good Death), Director Hasan Ete

Otuz Yaşında Öğrendiğim Şeyler (Things I Learned at Thirty), Director Sezer Ağgez

Ufku & Ülviye, Director Erkan Tahhuşoğlu