Preliminary Jury
Preliminary Jury
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Hayri Çölaşan was born in 1964 in Ankara. He got acquainted with cinema when his father worked as a machinist in Yenimahalle Seyran Theatre. In university he was trained for basic arts, ceramics, plastic and fine arts. In 1987 he started working for TRT Ankara Television as a lighting chief operator. After working in this position for 10 years, he transferred to the Actual Camera Operations. He took part in many documentaries as a cinematographer and a cameraman. He worked as a light operator in around 20 documentaries, camera assistant in 8 documentaries, cameraman and cinematographer in 71 documentaries and 6 foreign documentaries. He served as a preliminary jury and main jury member in many festivals. He created a database of jury members in film festivals and prepared a book on this subject. He tries to convey his training on cinema, his theoretical and practical experience through the website kameraarkasi.org.
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Dr. Deniz Gürgen Atalay serves as a faculty member in the Cinema and Television Department at Bahçeşehir University’s Faculty of Communication. Her academic research focuses on popular culture and film theory, while she specializes in documentary filmmaking.
In addition to her independent projects, she has directed documentary series supported by national and international non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations and Greenpeace. Dr. Atalay contributes to the field of cinema by exploring new narrative forms and theoretical perspectives through both her academic and practical work.
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He was born in Ankara in 1991. In 2013, he completed his undergraduate education at Near East University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Visual Communication Design. He completed her master's degree in 2016 and her PhD in 2022 at Near East University, Department of Media and Communication Studies. Since the fall semester of 2013/14, he has worked as a research assistant and lecturer at the Department of Visual Communication Design, Faculty of Communication, Near East University. At the beginning of the 2024/25 Fall semester, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor and fulfills his responsibilities in the Department of Visual Communication Design as a faculty member.
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Davita Günbay, also known as Naile Berberoğlu, is a lecturer at the Department of Film Making and Broadcasting at Near East University. She utilises post-structuralist critical theory to approach many issues ranging from globalisation to childhood in her academic studies. She has served as a jury member for the 10th GAU short film competition and the 1st International Rotary Peace Films Festival.
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Mustafa Ünlü was born in 1963 in Ankara. He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Communications. After he experienced journalism in various magazines and newspapers during school years, he worked respectively at TRT news department and the 32nd Day news show. Since he entered the field of documentary in 1989 wrote, directed and produced many films. He is the founding member and chairman of board in 2015-2019 of the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey. Currently, he is a partner of the Kutup Ayısı Documentary Productions Company established in 2001, chairman of Punto24 Independent Journalism Platfrorm and lecturer for documentary cinema and visual design in Okan University, Cinema-TV department.
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Documentary filmmaker working for Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, Department of In-House Productions. Esin holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA), and a Masters of Art (MA) from Bilkent University, Ankara. For almost 10 years, she wrote articles for the monthly periodical TRT Vizyon mostly on social, cultural, environmental, and scientific issues. Esin organized the international category of TRT Documentary Days for two consecutive years. Since 2014, she has worked in international co-productions, primarily with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). As a selected participant, she attended workshops, seminars, and meetings held by the organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the European Commission, the World Science Forum, the European Journalism Center (EJC), research institutes and the foreign ministries of various countries. She is one of the founding members of the Balkan Network of Science Journalists. Esin is a member of a young team producing documentaries focusing on social and cultural issues within Turkey and around the world.
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After graduating from Ankara University, Faculty of Communication in 1985, he joined the TRT Actual Camera Series and worked as a cameraman in numerous productions. After retiring in 2018, he has been serving as a preliminary jury member in short film festivals/competitions.