Filmekimi 2025 highlights not only acclaimed titles returning from the world’s most prestigious festivals but also the latest works from celebrated auteurs such as Jafar Panahi, Jim Jarmusch, Richard Linklater, and the Dardenne Brothers. The program also features major new films by Paolo Sorrentino, Yorgos Lanthimos, Guillermo del Toro, Ari Aster, Sergei Loznitsa, and Joachim Trier, reaffirming its role as one of autumn’s most anticipated cinema events.
Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), Filmekimi once again brings together award-winning international productions, eagerly awaited titles from master filmmakers, and special screenings from Turkey. Among this year’s standouts are Father Mother Sister Brother (winner of the Golden Lion in Venice), It Was Just an Accident (winner of the Palme d’Or in Cannes), Better Go Mad in the Wild (Grand Prix at Karlovy Vary), Blue Moon(Silver Bear in Berlin for Andrew Scott’s performance), and Young Mothers (Best Screenplay in Cannes).
Award-Winning Films Take the Stage
Cannes Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi begins with a humorous tone before unfolding into a haunting tale of revenge and tragedy.
Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, awarded the Golden Lion at Venice, interweaves three family stories set in different countries with his trademark mix of melancholy and understated humor.
Karlovy Vary’s Grand Prix winner Better Go Mad in the Wild tells the poetic, nature-bound story of twin siblings whose lives remain deeply intertwined with the wilderness.
Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, which earned Andrew Scott the Silver Bear in Berlin, offers a nostalgic behind-the-curtain look at Broadway.
The Dardenne Brothers’ Young Mothers, recipient of the Best Screenplay award at Cannes, follows young women struggling to hold on to life against all odds.
New Works from Master Filmmakers
This year’s Filmekimi also welcomes long-awaited premieres from some of contemporary cinema’s most distinctive voices.
Paolo Sorrentino reunites with the beloved actor Toni Servillo in La Grazia, examining the controversial decisions of a president under public scrutiny.
Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love (Geber Aşkım), starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, presents a raw, unsettling drama about motherhood, love, and mental health.
Yorgos Lanthimos returns with Bugonia, a science-fiction thriller featuring Emma Stone, sharply critiquing the modern world.
Ari Aster brings together Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal in Eddington, transforming the pandemic era into a nightmare.
Guillermo del Toro revisits Mary Shelley’s classic with a lavish new adaptation of Frankenstein.
Richard Linklater appears in the lineup with two titles: Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague. While Blue Moon nostalgically revisits Broadway’s backstage, Nouvelle Vague dramatizes the origins of Jean-Luc Godard’s revolutionary Breathless.
Joachim Trier’s Moral Value (Manevi Değer) explores the fragile balance between family, ambition, and creativity. Sergei Loznitsa returns to fiction with Two Prosecutors (İki Savcı), delving into the pursuit of justice during the Stalin era.
Three Powerful Voices from Gaza
One of the most compelling program strands this year is dedicated to films emerging from Gaza.
Kaouther Ben Hania’s award-winning documentary The Voice of Hind Rajab tells the harrowing final hours of six-year-old Hind Rajab, trapped under Israeli fire, through haunting audio recordings.
Sepideh Farsi’s Hold Your Heart and Walk (Yüreğini Eline Al ve Yürü) chronicles over 200 days of life under siege through the testimony of journalist Fatem.
Tarzan & Arab Nasser’s Once Upon a Time in Gaza blends crime, friendship, and comedy with the stark realities of everyday life under war.
Spotlight on Turkish Cinema
Three notable new Turkish films also make their mark at Filmekimi this year.
Can Evrenol’s dark comedy Glass Coffee Table (Cam Sehpa) turns an ordinary household object into the trigger for a psychological descent into chaos.
Ceylan Özgün Özçelik adapts a story by Gamze Arslan in Ada, a daytime thriller set within the fractured layers of memory.
Pelin Esmer’s Is That Even Something? (O da Bir Şey mi), Gürcan Keltek’s As the New Dawn Rises (Yeni Şafak Solarken), and Rezan Yeşilbaş’s The Flying Köfteci (Uçan Köfteci) also stand out as highlights of the program.
Screening Schedule
Istanbul: October 3–12 — Atlas 1948, Cinewam City’s Nişantaşı, Kadıköy Cinema, Paribu Art
Ankara: October 9–12 — Kült Kavaklıdere
Eskişehir: October 16–19 — Cinema Anadolu
Izmir: October 23–26 — Paribu Cineverse Konak Pier İzmir
Tickets: General sales open on Friday, September 26 at 10:30 a.m.
