Aysim Türkmen
Filmmaker and urban anthropologist. She graduated from Bosphorous University, Business Management Department. Earning a full scholarship while doing her M.A. in Sociology, she went to study Near Eastern Studies, earning M.A. degree at New York University. She completed New School Film Certificate Program in New York. She made her first short film “JUST LIKE TODAY” in New York. Coming back to Istanbul, she made award-winning documentaries, especially concerning urban issues. She directed and produced her first narrative feature film called "Arabesque Underground" (original title: Cekmekoy Underground) in 2014. Two of her documentaries as well as her fiction film have been supported by the Cinema Support Fund of Turkish Ministry of Culture. She is the founder member of Film Fatales Istanbul, Script Development Group, Filmperest, working on women directors’ scripts. She has been making the radio programs, “Metropolitika” and “Lands and Faces” (programs on urban culture and politics) at Open Radio for 18 years. She is currently developing her narrative feature film project “PEEKABOO” (attended Meetings on the Bridge, IKSV) and documentary film project “SUBURBIA UNDERGROUND” (supported by Turkish Ministry of Culture) She organizes "Creating Film Characters from the City" film development workshops around Turkey. After the Maraş and Hatay earthquakes, she founded the Asist (Asi-Istanbul) Initiative and made short videos documenting the process after the earthquake. The editing process of the shootings in the region in June 2023 and October 2023 continues. Assist Initiative organized City Representation Workshops in Samandağ under the coordination of Aysim Türkmen, with the special support of Sivil Düşün. Participants in the workshop developed the documentary film project "Ras-el Seni Events". The Film project has been funded by Bayetav.