The Altın Baklava Film Academy 10th International Student Film Festival, organised by the Faculty of Communication at Hasan Kalyoncu University, took place on 27-29 April 2026 with record participation. With many well-known names on its jury, the festival ended with a grand gala night at which the awards found their winners.
1888 Film Entries from 105 Countries
A total of 1888 entries from 105 countries were submitted to the film festival held on the Hasan Kalyoncu University campus, across the fiction, documentary, animation, artificial intelligence and ultra-short categories. Throughout the festival, the directors of the future had the chance to develop themselves through workshops, film screenings, talks and cultural trips.
An International Festival with a Prestigious Jury
While Producer Mehmet Bozdağ served as jury president, the jury members included actor-director Tamer Levent, actor-producer Yağmur Taylan, actor Mahassine Merabet, actor Mert Yazıcıoğlu and actor Özge Özberk. During the three-day festival, students held talks both with the jury members and with well-loved figures of the cinema world.
A Festival Where Only Student Films Compete
Addressing the guests at the festival’s gala night, HKU Chairman of the Board of Trustees Haluk Kalyoncu said: “Today we are delighted to be together with you at the Altın Baklava Film Festival, which our Faculty of Communication is holding for the 10th time and in which only students can take part with short films. With its institutional discipline and student-centred approach to education, our university attaches great importance to our future generations deepening and becoming active in the fields of culture and art. In this respect, we support and closely follow the workshops and all hands-on practical training aimed at helping the students of our Faculty of Communication and our Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture discover their artistic talents and skills. I congratulate all our students who took part with 1888 short films from different universities in Turkey and abroad. We have students among us from Germany, China, Iran and Lebanon. We will reward these works of our valued students with our esteemed artists.”
Over the Years, Altın Baklava Has Become a Cinema School as Well as a Festival
Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Gül Rengin Küçükerdoğan said: “This journey, which began ten years ago to make room for the stories of young filmmakers, has today become a strong international gathering. Our festival, which started within a more limited framework in its early years, has grown over time into a strong platform that brings together stories from different geographies under one roof. Beyond being an event in which films merely compete, our festival offers a learning environment in which young people develop themselves through its workshops, talks and exchanges. In this respect, over the years Altın Baklava has acquired the identity of a cinema school as well as a festival.”
Producer Mehmet Bozdağ, who served as the festival’s jury president, said: “I also took part in the 8th edition of this festival, and this is the 10th. Each time I see it, this festival has grown more beautiful and more established. I watched many of the films that took part in the festival. These films are very good and promising for the future. I was happy to be at this festival and to watch the films.”
Şahinbey Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu said: “Because our Hasan Kalyoncu University organises such a wonderful film festival, makes it sustainable and has continued it for 10 years,
we thank them very much.”
21 Films Awarded in 5 Categories
At the Altın Baklava Film Festival, 22 films were found worthy of awards in the “Fiction”, “Documentary”, “Animation” and “Artificial Intelligence” categories and, for the first time this year, the “Ultra-Short” category. At the 10th Altın Baklava Film Festival, in the “Fiction” category the film “Was Never Her Choice”, directed by Marguerita Nakhoul, took first place, while in the “Artificial Intelligence” category director Osama Othman won first prize with the film “Next Hope”. In the “Documentary” category, director Polina Piddubna won first prize with the film “My Grandmother is a Skydiver”, while in the “Animation” category the directors Melle Windig, Hidde Alberts, Miguel Reyes, Jurgen de Smit and Arjen van der Plas won first prize with the film “Cell Buddies”. In the “Ultra-Short” category, the film “Percussion”, directed by Oktay Yıldırım, took first place.
Special Awards Made Their Mark on the Night
In the “Special Awards” category, the Jury Special Award went to the film “Kudret”, directed by Mehmet Oğuz Yıldırım, and the Peace Special Award went to the film “Tammam”, directed by Tamam Sharrack.
The “Hasan Kalyoncu Special Award”, presented every year in memory of the late Hasan Kalyoncu, who laid the foundations of Hasan Kalyoncu University in 2008 and left a precious legacy to the country, the region and the city, went to the film “Sultan’s Stone”, directed by Berkay Ellek. The award was presented by HKU Chairman of the Board of Trustees Haluk Kalyoncu.
(Full List of Award-Winning Films and Directors)
FICTION
- First Place: “Was Never Her Choice”, Marguerita Nakhoul – Lebanon
- Second Place: “Don’t Say It”, Ezgi Temel – Türkiye
- Third Place: “ANGST”, Furkan Arslantaş – Türkiye
- Honourable Mention: “Time for Lemons (Limon Zamanı)”, Muhammed Sıddık Aktaş – Türkiye
DOCUMENTARY
- First Place: “My Grandmother is a Skydiver”, Polina Piddubna – Germany
- Second Place: “RAH”, Beyza Emişen – Türkiye
- Third Place: “Gaziantep’s Hidden Wings”, Yakup Yener – Türkiye
- Honourable Mention: “Children of the Mountains”, Guliza Abdykamilova – Kyrgyzstan
ANIMATION
- First Place: “Cell Buddies”, Melle Windig, Hidde Alberts, Miguel Reyes, Jurgen de Smit, Arjen van der Plas – Netherlands
- Second Place: “Spear”, Harvey Gozado – Philippines
- Third Place: “Arash the Archer”, Shaghayeh Nozari – United Kingdom
- Honourable Mention: “Ricardo, Ricorda”, Marco Grosso – Switzerland
Artificial Intelligence
- First Place: “Next Hope”, Osama Othman – Türkiye
- Second Place: “The Last Bookstore”, Siyuan Peng, Yuting Peng, Yulu Xiang, Xinyao Wang, Siheng Yin, Jingran Wang – China
- Third Place: “My Sugar Spiked: An Evliya Çelebi Adventure”, Mert Can Altun – Türkiye
- Honourable Mention: “Legacy”, Ufuk Karadavut – Türkiye
ULTRA-SHORT
- First Place: “Percussion”, Oktay Yıldırım – Türkiye
- Second Place: “Sanrı”, Aysel Beyza Bozdoğan – Türkiye
Special Awards
- Hasan Kalyoncu Special Award: “Sultan’s Stone”, Berkay Ellek – Türkiye
- Jury Special Award: “Kudret”, Mehmet Oğuz Yıldırım – Türkiye
- Peace Special Award: “Tammam”, Tamam Sharrack – Türkiye
Photo Gallery
