5th Izmir Film & Music Festival Jury Announced

After being organized by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality in cooperation with the Intercultural Art Association for its first four editions, the Izmir International Film and Music Festival will be organized solely by the Intercultural Art Association in its fifth year, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and various sponsors. From September 10 to 15, 2025, screenings will take place at three halls of IstinyePark Teras Renk Cinema and at the Institut français Izmir (French Cultural Center), featuring nearly 100 films, including 47 feature films.

As a thematic festival, its main section is the ‘International Competition’, where 10 films from 14 countries will compete. The jury, which will present awards for Best Film, Jury Special Award, and Best Original Music, is chaired by director-producer Ömer Vargı and includes Malak Dahmouni (festival director, Morocco), Olena Yershova (producer, Ukraine), Şenay Lambaoğlu (musician), and Tulio Gagliardo (conductor, Argentina). In addition to the jury awards, there will also be an Audience Award.

This year, there will be no National Competition section. Instead, awards will be given in the "Music of Our Cinema" section. One film will receive the Best Original Music award, and another will receive the Jury Special Award. The jury for this section includes musician Serdar Yalçın and critics Asu Maro, Burak Göral, Cumhur Canbazoğlu, and Müge Turan.

The third evaluation will focus on television series music. A jury chaired by composer Serdar Kalafatoğlu and consisting of Ali Can Sekmeç, Oya Doğan, Sina Koloğlu, and Tuğçe Madayanti Şen will present Best Series Music Awards in two categories (public channels and digital platforms), along with a Jury Special Award that may be given for Best Original Song, Best Playlist, or Best Sound Design. Another jury of the festival will evaluate the films selected for the "First Films, First Excitements" section, which includes 7 films from Turkish cinema’s 2024–25 season. The full festival program will be announced next week on the festival’s social media accounts (@ifmfest).