STFFShorts Program
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STFFShorts Program is a part of the STFF Festival and a celebration of short films of all genres. The jury primarily consists of distinguished voices in the Seattle arts community.
Each year, during STFF, STFFShorts brings together a curated selection of shorts, providing international exposure to exceptional filmmakers and connecting them with Northwest audiences.
STFFShorts 2024 Selection
* Films are listed in screening order
Dank
Tuvana Simin Günay | TURKEY | 2024 | 15 min
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When Nergis, feeling pity for the porter carrying the washing machine to her home, overextends her kindness, a seemingly intimate yet tense conversation begins between them.
A Behavior Befitting a Friend
Veysel Ayvazoglu | TURKEY | 2024 | 18 min
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Amidst some tension over a small amount of debt between Süleyman, Hasan, and Cüneyt, a series of events and encounters are testing their friendship.
Masallah!
Ezgi Ay | TURKEY | 2023 | 10 min
Masallah! looks into the very miniscule and normalized moment that every woman and LGBTQI+ people experience and feel on a cellular level right before leaving their house, looking in the mirror: “Can I make it home alive today?”.
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Gukla
Emine Uysal Berger, Özgür Ceylan | TURKEY | 2024 | 19 min
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Gukla is a psychological thriller and horror film that focuses on the feelings of belonging to a city, in which three characters of different generations from Izmir meet by chance in an abandoned mansion. After Fatma's house was demolished due to urban redevelopment, she moved into an abandoned mansion she found nearby, only to soon realize that she wasn't alone in the house.
Snow White and The Dwarf
Bora Yavuz Subası | TURKEY | 2023 | 5 min
Leyla wants to be Snow White for the April 23rd Children's Day show. Even if her teacher doesn't choose her, she eventually manages to become a princess.
Unknown Continent
Murat Arda Gürsoy | TURKEY | 2024 | 13 min
Merve is a former athlete living on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, making a living by selling performance-enhancing drugs. Upon receiving the news of her father's death in Belgium, Merve finds herself faced with a choice between two continents. This decision will also lead to losing one of the two people she loves... Will she choose her sister who dreams of a life abroad or the athlete she is in love with.
Such Things Don’t Happen In This World
Ali Emre Ceylan | TURKEY | 2024 | 20 min
Recep, once mentioned to have a good job and life in Ankara, is forced to return to his village due to psychological issues. In the village, he exhibits strange, erratic behavior. His father feels ashamed and secretly fearful alongside his anger towards his son. One night, after waking from a nightmare where his son kills him, the father gets up and looks out the window, realizing in the most painful way that his fears were unfounded.
The Shell
Sema Güler | TURKEY | 2024 | 16 min
Leyla (28) is a young painter who has been exposed to male violence and has locked herself in the house for a while. The wounds and stitches on her face are about to recover; however, Leyla is not able to tackle the impacts of the trauma she went through and isolates herself from life. A series of unexpected events take place when she dumps out her self-portrait which reminds her of the times she was happy and therefore cannot bear seeing it anymore. Leyla has to confront the truth and make a choice.
We Need To Talk About Dilan
Umut Silan Ogurlu | TURKEY | 2024 | 19 min
Dilan, who works for her uncle and lives with her mother, feels that she is not living up to her potential.A documentary team investigating Dilan's problem follows Dilan's life while examining the unsolved mystery of artistic production.Why is this young adult of average standards unable to produce anything of value even though she wants to? Is it because of a psychological or physiological condition? Lack of iron? Is it a lack of talent, bad luck, or just laziness?
I am not Supermarket
Ekrem Ayhan Çakay | TURKEY | 2023 | 19 min
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Saffet (32), a veteran supermarket employee, lives in constant fear of losing his job as rumors circulate about an impending audit by the Manager. The audit, aided by Mystery Shoppers, targets declining sales of the Supermarket. Saffet's paranoia grows, perceiving every customer as a potential threat. From innocent inquiries about cake capsule locations to requests for change, every interaction feels like a test. Saffet's colleagues around him also fuel this feeling. Overwhelmed by his mounting psychosis, Saffet spirals deeper into a whirlpool of anxiety and uncertainty.
Student Filmmaker Workshop Participants
We are thrilled to announce the invited aspiring filmmakers to our very first STFFShorts Student Filmmaker Workshop in collaboration with Western Washington University (WWU)! Film Screening and Panel discussion will be moderated by Professor Eren Odabasi at the Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, with participation of Film Studies students and two guest professors, Greg Youmans and Felicia Cosey.
Congratulations to our student filmmakers and thanks to this wonderful collaboration with WWU! Stay tuned for more updates and get ready to dive into some amazing conversations about filmmaking!
STFFShorts 2024
Film Screeners
Berke Can
Cansu Gurler
Ceren Verbowski
Didem Demirkilinc Ibis
Duygu Aktas
Esra Yaz
Ezgi Irmak Yucel
Gokhan Duymaz
Irem Gokce Aydin
Nur Ozyurt
Nural Sumbultepe
Osman Ibis
​Toghrul Jafarov
STFFShorts 2024 Grand Jury
Arman Kazemi
Director of MENA Film Festival
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Arman Kazemi is a Vancouver-based writer, journalist and filmmaker and one of the co-founders and organizer of the MENA Film Festival in Vancouver, for which he has served as Executive Director since 2019.
Diana Ruíz
Professor of Cinema & Media Studies
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Dr. Ruíz is an Assistant Professor of Cinema & Media Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her writing appears or is forthcoming in Critical Ethnic Studies, Feminist Media Histories, Film Quarterly, and The Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, among other venues.
Duygu Erdogan Monson
Professor of Theater and Film
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Dr. Duygu Erdogan Monson is a Turkish stage and film actor, director, and producer, appearing in numerous stage and film projects in Turkey, Europe, and the USA. She completed her M.F.A in Advanced Acting at Bahcesehir University and her Ph.D. in Theater History, Criticism, and Theory at the University of Washington. Recently, she performed in the award-winning movie the Winter Island, and a tv pilot A Broad Abroad. Currently, she works as a Faculty member and the Department Chair for the Shoreline Community College Theater and Film Department.
Nicole Pouchet
Writer/Director/Novelist
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A former Broadway assistant director, Nicole Pouchet is a novelist and writer/director for the award-winning fantasy series, Strowlers. She is currently raising funds for her feature film, Her Mad Hatter, an adaptation of the best-selling fantasy romance novel. Her horror/social thriller short, Retch, premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) in 2019, won Best Film at the Seattle Black Film Festival in 2020, and has shown on DirecTV, Amazon, PBS, and Alaska Airlines. Her subsequent films -- a sci-fi short called Such an Honor and a fantasy animation/live action blend called Lioness have been official selections at dozens of festivals worldwide. A 2024 Artist Trust fellow, Nicole continues to write/direct projects that incorporate social commentary into genre film. She has served as a Board Member for Destiny City Film Festival, for Northwest Screenwriters Guild, and for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment; and as a lecturer for the University of Virginia, Clarion West, SIFF, and Women in Film.
Gabby Follett
Gabby Follett (Any Pronouns) is an Experimental Media Artist who makes films, videos, prints, and expanded cinema works that explore issues of race, migration, sexual orientation, gender identity, and ability status. Gabby is also an Assistant Professor of Film Production at the University of Rhode Island and the creator of This Week in Experimental, a weekly newsletter focused on providing resources to experimental artists seeking creative, intellectual, and exhibition opportunities.
We are honored to have Gabby join us for this year's STFFShorts program creative. Check out more of their work at @grumpyfilmgoblin and gfollettsumney.com
past
screenings
STFFShorts Awards​
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We are delighted to offer various awards to celebrate short filmmakers for their films in either the fiction or documentary categories!
Contact Us
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