The jury members have been announced for the Film Forum, which brings together emerging and independent filmmakers as part of the 63rd International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.
The Film Forum juries of the 63rd International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, taking place from 24 to 31 October 2026, comprise leading figures from the Turkish and international film industries.
At this major industry gathering, which will take place at Hotel Su on 26–27 October, the finalist projects will pitch on 26 October at 12:00. At the awards ceremony on 27 October, the films of the future will receive their first support and begin their journey.
This year, the Film Forum Work in Progress Jury consists of Ali Vatansever, Anja Strelec and Miljenka Čogelja. The Pitching Jury comprises Derya Yanmış, Levent Kazak and Melik Saraçoğlu.
Film Forum Work in Progress Jury
Ali Vatansever develops and directs films that explore human stories with depth and nuance at Terminal Film, which he co-founded. His second feature, Saf, premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. His third film, Bir Arada Yalnız, shot partly in virtual reality, won the Best Director award at the Tallinn Film Festival. Alongside his filmmaking, he works as creative director at TimeLooper, designing next-generation experiences that bring storytelling together with extended reality (XR) technologies. He teaches Filmmaking and XR at Koç University and mentors early-career filmmakers and artists at m2 Film Lab and KARMA XR Lab.
Brussels-based documentary producer, video director and educator Anja Strelec works across creative documentary, visual journalism and contemporary art, with a particular interest in social realities, human stories, and the lives of individuals and communities whose voices are often overlooked. After studying Television Production at the University of Zagreb, she pursued film studies in France at ENSAV and Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3. Strelec has directed and co-directed creative documentaries and audiovisual works screened internationally at festivals and on television. Her work includes hybrid documentary reports and art films for museums and cultural institutions, as well as productions for Flemish and Croatian television, BBC Studios and international organisations. For the past 15 years, she has taught documentary production and audiovisual storytelling internationally, working as a lecturer, mentor, jury member, programme coordinator and film selector at festivals and educational institutions across Europe. She has served on the juries of the Dhaka Film Festival and the Rome International Film Festival, and as a film selector for the Millennium Film Festival in Brussels. She is currently working on her first feature-length documentary, #Click Revolution, about a young Croatian influencer who enters politics and becomes a candidate in the European Parliament elections.
Producer Miljenka Čogelja, co-founder of Zagreb-based production company Pipser, focuses on international co-productions as well as fiction and documentary works reflecting an auteur approach. Her first feature fiction film as a producer, Juraj Lerotić’s Safe Place (2022), won three awards in Locarno and two Heart of Sarajevo awards, was selected as Croatia’s Oscar submission, and was nominated for the European Film Awards’ European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI and for Best European Film at the Goya Awards. It also received more than 50 awards at over 70 festivals. She co-produced Dane Komljen’s Desire Lines (Locarno International Competition, 2025) and Veronika Lišková’s Year of the Widow (Warsaw, 2024), both supported by Eurimages. Earlier, she produced Dana Budisavljević’s The Diary of Diana B. (Pula 2019, Grand Golden Arena) and co-produced Jan Gebert’s When the War Comes (Berlinale Panorama, 2018). She also created documentary and series projects for Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), including Good Economy and Slumbering Concrete. She is currently producing Miroslav Sikavica’s debut feature Milch Cow (Eurimages, MEDIA), now in post-production, and developing Filip Peruzović’s Suspicious Area and Juraj Lerotić’s Expected Losses. A graduate of ACE and EAVE, Miljenka is a member of the European Film Academy, participated in EFP’s Producers on the Move programme in 2023, and serves on the board of the Croatian Producers Association. She has also worked as an artistic consultant on minority co-productions at the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC).
Film Forum Pitching Jury
Derya Yanmış has worked in the film industry for nearly 20 years. She began her career preparing subtitles for 35 mm film prints, then joined Tiglon’s distribution team, working on the Turkish release campaigns of 20th Century Fox films. Since 2014, she has worked at Bir Film in distribution, marketing, acquisitions, release strategies and the development of cinema programmes. Involved in bringing Turkish and international films to audiences in Türkiye, Yanmış plays an active role in developing and delivering a range of cinema projects, from special screenings to long-running programmes.
Screenwriter and actor Levent Kazak began working professionally in theatre in 1986. Over the years, he shared the stage with Altan Erbulak, Ali Poyrazoğlu, Alpay İzer, Bülent Kayabaş, Savaş Dinçel and İsmet Ay. He has acted in, written, translated and adapted nearly 30 theatre plays. For television, he worked as a screenwriter, actor and producer on Kim Bunlar, Gülen Ayva Ağlayan Nar, İnsanlık Hali and Heberler. His screenwriting credits in cinema include O Şimdi Asker, Neredesin Firuze, O Şimdi Mahkum, Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü?, Senden Bana Kalan and Kötü Kedi Şerafettin; he also acted in Hemşo and Amerikalılar Karadeniz’de 2. Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü?, directed by Ezel Akay, won Best Screenplay at the 13th Golden Boll Film Festival. Kazak is one of the founders of the Senaryo Stüdyosu school, alongside Barış Pirhasan, Gül Dirican and Aylin Doğan.
After graduating from Galatasaray High School, Melik Saraçoğlu studied at Lyon II Lumière University. The films he wrote and directed with Hakkı Kurtuluş—including Orada (2009), Bergmanya’ya Yolculuk (2011), Gözümün Nûru (2013), Müjdeler Var Yurdumun Toprağına Taşına Erdi Sinemam 100 Şeref Yaşına! (2015), Birlikte Öleceğiz (2021), Dermansız (2021) and Algoritma’ya Biat Et (2025)—have received numerous awards in Türkiye and abroad. Saraçoğlu, who wrote the screenplays for Halef and Dondurmam Gaymak: Gapital and has edited numerous films, is also the author of the books Hastane Defteri and Vatandaş Berzins. He teaches at Bahçeşehir University and Kadir Has University.
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