Pitching Lab | TROYA FİLM PLATFORM

The Troya Film Platform offers a creative presentation space for feature-length fiction film projects in the pre-production stage. By bringing together producers, directors, and screenwriters in the script development phase with both local and international industry professionals, the platform aims to foster creative collaborations and co-production opportunities.

Selected projects are supported not only with financial awards but also through international mentorship programs, consultancy sessions, and potential partnership opportunities. In doing so, the platform encourages the development of projects to meet international standards while helping creative teams expand their professional networks.

Looking ahead, the platform aims to expand its scope to include documentary and series projects, diversifying its activities through *Work in Progress* categories that focus on projects in production.

Dedicated to supporting creative filmmaking and offering independent producers a sustainable development environment, the Troya Film Platform seeks to establish a strong production ecosystem at both national and international levels.

Mustafa Haktanır

He was born on December 11, 1979, in Balıkesir, Turkey. He graduated from Uludağ University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration in 2003. Between 2005 and 2007, he studied "Directing and Screenwriting" in the Drama Department at Türker İnanoğlu Foundation Cinema-TV School. From 2007 to 2014, he worked as an assistant director on various film and TV projects.

In 2016, he completed his first feature film project, for which he also wrote the screenplay, and undertook both directing and producing duties. That same year, he founded his production company, *Bağımsız Film Yapım* (Independent Film Production).

In 2017, he received filmmaker training at *Yapımlab Zeynep Atakan Film Workshop*. Since 2018, he has been working as a screenwriting and film production instructor, as well as a script consultant, at *senaryOnline*, a platform he founded.

Don't

The residents of the village of Don’t are busy preparing to welcome the Minister, who is set to pass near their village the next day. Each of the ten households in the village has a request for the Minister, who is originally from their region. However, an unexpected event turns their plans upside down: Celile, the beloved and respected elder of the village, has passed away. While the villagers are saddened by her death, they are eager to bury her quickly and proceed with welcoming the Minister. But Celile has a few sweet surprises in store — not only for the villagers, but also for the Minister himself...

- Hubert Bals Fund (2021)

- Ankara Film Festival –Project Development Support Competition(2022)

- Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival – Film Forum (2024)

M. Tayfur Aydın

He was born in Bitlis in 1984. In 2008, he directed and produced his first short film, *Sen Olmak* (To Be You). The short films he directed afterward received awards at national and international film festivals. In 2011, he directed his first feature film, *İZ/REÇ (Trace)*. In 2013, he founded MTA Film Production Company.

In 2016, he directed and produced his second feature film, *Black Crow*, which competed at numerous festivals and won several awards. In 2017, he produced *Bir Kezban, Bir Mahmut*, followed by *Colorless Dream*, *Poet*, and in 2019, *Love Spell and All That*.

In addition to fiction films, he has also produced several short and feature-length documentaries. He is currently working on new feature film projects — *Battle of Hedgehogs*, *All Gone*, and *Trees I Remember* — all in the preliminary preparation stage.

Baran Gündüzalp

He graduated from Anadolu University, Department of Communication Arts, in 2004. He worked as a creative in advertising agencies in Istanbul for both global and national brands. His work in advertising, graphic design, photography, and short films has earned him numerous national and international awards, screenings, and exhibitions.

In 2008, he was invited by Jameson Irish Whiskey to attend the Dublin Film Festival. Between 2008 and 2018, his short films were screened at some of Turkey’s most prominent festivals. In 2020, he received his first film support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture for his project *Rosinante*.

*Rosinante* had its world premiere at the 36th Tokyo Film Festival, and in 2024, it won the "Best Screenplay" award at the Annaba Film Festival in Algeria, where Nuri Bilge Ceylan chaired the jury. Most recently, the film received the Best Film and Special Award at the 22nd Ischia Film Festival in Italy.

Two Angry Men

A man wakes up naked in a pit deep within the forest, with no memory of how he got there or who put him there. The only person he encounters refuses to help him and instead urges him to reflect on what he might have done to deserve such a punishment. His survival now depends on delving into the depths of his soul and recalling a crime that could justify the severity of his fate.

Troya Film Platform, marks the project's first official pitching application.

Seren Gel

Born in 1985. After graduating from Istanbul University’s Department of Philosophy, he worked on various film and TV sets. He directed four short films titled *Dut Zamanı*, *Dicle*, *Sudan Korkan Adamlar*, and *Scud - Patriot*. His films were screened at numerous domestic and international festivals and won awards. He has also worked as a script consultant and post-production supervisor on various film projects.

Occupation

After a traumatic experience, Özge abandons her life in the city and retreats to the forest to start anew. Her carefully built solitude is disrupted when an uninvited guest discovers her shelter.

* DenizBank Production Support Platform–Finalist Project–May 2024

* M2 Film Lab Development Program 2024 – Finalist Project

Sezgin Cengiz

Born in 1983 in Kars. He graduated from Pera Fine Arts University, Department of Theater-Acting, in 2005. Between 2005 and 2007, he took screenwriting classes from Akın Yılmaz at AramaTiyatrosu, founded by Özkan Schulze. He has worked as an actor in various theaters, TV series, and films.

He wrote, directed, and produced the feature film *Tebessüm*, which completed shooting in 2021. The film was released in 2023, participated in festivals, and won awards.

Ertan Velimatti Alagöz

He was born in 1981 in Stockholm, Sweden to a Finnish mother and a Turkish father. After completing his cinema education in Turkey and Sweden, he started his professional career as an assistant director at Plato Film/Istanbul. He continued his career as Creative Director at Digiturk/S'nek Tv for four years. His first feature film Birbiri Ardına, which he wrote and directed in 2009, premiered at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in 2010. He shot his second feature film, The Fish Inside Me, in 2015. In 2015, he produced the feature-length documentary Dilek Fabrikası (Wish Factory). In December 2018, he wrote his first detective novel, Avcı, which became a bestseller in Turkey.

Love - Love

Murder suspects, twin brothers Ishak and Sait, manage to escape from the police in the deserted bay of a resort town on the Aegean coast, and a deadly chase begins between them and Metin, the town's female police chief.

Deniz Umay Şahin

He was born in Izmir. He studied at Rotary Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Department of Information Technologies. He graduated from Izmir Kâtip Çelebi University, Department of Philosophy. He graduated from Atatürk University, Department of Advertising. With the documentary film project “RUMIJA”, of which he is the main producer and which he progressed with Montenegrin co-producers, he won 300.000 TL Documentary Production Support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. She was selected as a finalist in IKSV Meetings on the Bridge with her documentary film “The Sworn Virgin” to be shot in the country of Albania and applied to Sundance Film Festival with her project “The Sworn Virgin”. She continues to work as a producer in UMAY YAPIM company to develop her feature film LOVE LOVE.

Aydın Orak

Aydın Orak was born in 1982. He received two years of training in Theater Directing at the Performing Arts Center. Orak, who has translated plays by many authors including Gogol, Ibsen, Yaşar Kemal, Haşmet Zeybek, dropped out of Istanbul Bilgi University - Performing Arts and Performance Department. His feature film Asasız Musa was released in Turkey in 2014. He participated in many national and international film festivals. He received awards. With the films and plays he directed, he participated in important festivals and tours in Turkey, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Canada, Austria and Australia. He served as a jury member at festivals such as Alexandria International Film Festival, Adana International Film Festival and Antakya Film Festival. He was awarded the Male Actor of the Year Award by Direklerarası Theater Awards. He has published five books on poetry, translation and research. He has acted, directed and translated dozens of theater plays. He lives in Istanbul.

The Sting Dead Bee

The Sting of the Dead Bee" is an emotional drama about a lawyer father who believes he caused the death of his baby after a tragic event. The movie explores the dark complexity of family ties, regret, conscience and human nature.

Faysal Soysal

Born in Batman in 1979, Faysal Soysal developed an interest in poetry at a young age. He left his medical education unfinished and graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy in 2003. Subsequently, he pursued a master's degree in Film Directing at Tehran University of Art and another in Modern Turkish Literature at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University.

During his education in Tehran, he directed award-winning short films that reflected his poetic cinema style. In 2008, he received a scholarship to the New York Film Academy, where he directed four more short films. He has also published two poetry books and translated works.

His first feature film, Üç Yol (Crossroads) (2013), won 13 awards at national and international festivals. He then directed documentaries focusing on the Srebrenica Massacre and volunteerism stories. Since 2018, he has been serving as the director of the International Friendship Short Film Festival.

His second feature film, Ceviz Ağacı (The Walnut Tree) (2020), a co-production between Turkey and Iran, received 23 international awards. Soysal continues his work in cinema and poetry and actively participates in social responsibility projects.

Rahma

A nurse who has tried everything to have a genetic child despite her illness decides to go abroad for surrogacy as a last resort, only to find herself in a new adventure with an orphaned refugee girl disguised as a man.

Olena Yershova

Olena Yershova is the founder and producer of TatoFilm, a film production company based in Ukraine and Turkey. She also collaborates with Kino Iberica, which operates in Georgia. As an internationally recognized producer, Yershova has become a bridge-builder in the cinema industry by co-producing films in many countries.

Throughout her career, she has produced both documentaries and feature fiction films, with many of her projects featured and awarded at prestigious film festivals. Olena Yershova is an active member of supportukraine.top, an initiative established to support Ukrainian cinema under wartime conditions.

Yershova, whose international reputation is well-established, is a member of significant organizations such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, the European Producers Club, and the Ukrainian Film Academy, thanks to her achievements in cinema.

Leading multicultural collaborations, Yershova, in her capacity as a producer, supports not only film production but also inter-industry dialogue and solidarity.