Message of the Honorary Director

Greetings,

For the 9th time, between April 24–29, 2026, we are again ringing the curtains up for the cinema with women in Izmir.

It was not easy to become an international festival on the way we set out as the Women Filmmakers Convention in 2018.

A handful of stubborn, believing and determined women struggle with hardships and not only keep this festival alive, but also grow it gradually. We live in a country where it is easy to start a something but where determination is not shown to carry it out and maintain it.

However, the importance of the sustainability of art for democracy is indisputable. That’s why we are stubborn and want to make our festival sustainable. Because we know that where art is not free and equal, the voice of peace will be silenced; and in war, weapons are directed not only to those who fight, but also to all people and civilizations with the values created by humanity.

We also aim to make women’s voices louder, to increase women’s creativity and women’s visibility in the eyes of the public. We know that this is one of the ways to fight against a world dominated by violence and evil and to create a livable world.

We are in Izmir and now our Festival has Izmir in its name. Izmir is the city where women watched movies with men for the first time; it is the city where a Muslim woman appeared on the theater stage for the first time. Therefore, this preference is a contribution of women filmmakers to Izmir, which is a world city with a culture that has been filtered through its thousands of years of history, and to our citizens. The intellectual history of Izmir will definitely be written in the future and our festival will definitely have a place as a contribution that strengthens the identity of this city and the belonging we feel to it.

This year, our theme is “Through the Lens of Conscience”. We decided on this theme at the closing ceremony of last year’s festival. Let’s call it predictability. I wish there will be plenty of cinematic days that frame the conscience for a world where there are no wars and the voice of peace against war rises and dominates.

Sema PEKDAŞ                                                                        Attorney