2015-2019

New Film Fund

The New Film Fund sets out with the dream of a world in which all living beings can live together on this planet peacefully. It supports films of solidarity that pave the way for change, adopt human rights in their broadest definition as their principle, and give a voice to minorities. It aims to support stories that display a transformative quality in form and content, narratives that challenge borders between genres, and projects that bring different encounters and experiences to the fore. By creating a platform that encourages diversity and the free expression of a multiplicity of voices, it hopes to enable the development of independent film production in Turkey.

The New Film Fund is a partnership of Anadolu Kültür and the !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival. The main sponsor of the fund is the Open Society Foundation; the special post-production sponsor is Atlas Post Production; and its individual donors are Mehmet Betil and Ali Betil.

How Did We Begin?

Anadolu Kültür has, since 2009, provided small grants to projects that facilitate social transformation; support the struggle for equality, freedom, and intercultural tolerance and sensitivity; and share a vision of a pluralistic society that has shed its prejudices and enables minorities to make their voices be heard, It is now setting out in partnership with the !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival to transform these grants and further this vision through a permanent film fund.

The founding partners who aim to open new fields where independent film production can thrive; have realized, with the New Film Fund reflects the founding partners' desire to create a platform that supports films of solidarity that hold freedom, peace and social justice as their common values and enables filmmakers to find their unique voice. In addition to its goal of supporting and distributing films that will create awareness, the Fund also aims to promote the production of films displaying universal standards by filmmakers from Turkey.

The New Film Fund, through a biannual call, aims to assess and support films that display innovative qualities in terms of form and content and different forms of production at the development, production or post-production stages.