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The fourth International Digital Film Festival Istanbul (DFFI) has kicked off at the Ataturk Cultural Center (AKM), bringing together 18 finalist films across six competition categories following submissions from 27 countries.
Held under the theme "Human-Centered Digital Transformation, Creativity and Shared Responsibility in Cinema," the festival will feature free film screenings, workshops and discussions at several venues across Istanbul, with the winners set to be announced on Oct. 20.
This year's program centers on the question "Is a Shared Future Possible?" and explores how digital technologies are reshaping filmmaking, storytelling and audience experiences, while raising questions about creativity, ethics and artistic responsibility.
Speaking at the opening ceremony at AKM's Yesilcam Cinema, festival founder and president Ilknur Doruker said the event approaches technology not simply as a means of introducing new production tools, but as a way to expand human imagination and redefine creative responsibility.
"We see technology not merely as a development that offers new production tools, but as an element that expands human imagination, multiplies storytelling possibilities and redefines creative responsibility," Doruker said.
She also pointed out that the festival became the first in Türkiye to introduce a separate competition category for AI-assisted films in 2024.
This year's competition features fiction, animation, documentary, experimental, fashion and AI-assisted short films, alongside seven additional titles in the festival's Official Selection.
The international lineup includes productions from Türkiye, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Iran, Georgia and Russia.
Among the finalists are Something Pointless by British filmmaker Asa Bailey, Hell by American director Parker Croft and The Village of Ballet Dancers by Türkiye's Fatih Diren.
Meanwhile, the AI-assisted category features Railbound by Jonathan Perry from the United States, Kiko's Odyssey by Italy's Nick Montari and Ceremony by Germany's Mark Wachholz.
The competing films will be evaluated by an international jury of filmmakers and industry professionals, including actor Mine Cayiroglu, director Huseyin Karabey, cinematographer Ugur Icbak and screenwriter-director Andres Aloi.
Following the opening screenings organized under the themes "Transforming Narratives" and "Humanity, the World and the Future," the festival will move to Muze Gazhane, a cultural venue in Istanbul, on Oct. 17-18.
The program will then continue at Ozyegin University on Oct. 19, offering free screenings, workshops and themed discussions examining cinema's digital transformation and changing approaches to creative production.
Alongside the film screenings, the festival will bring together filmmakers and industry representatives for conversations about storytelling, technological developments and the evolving relationship between cinema and its audiences.
The fourth edition will conclude with a closing and awards ceremony at Fisekhane Main Stage in Istanbul on Oct. 20, where the winners of the six competition categories will be announced.
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