On November 15, faculty and student representatives of the Department of Communication and Design attended the fourth annual Altın Baklava Film Festival award ceremony and gala as special guests. The festival, organized by the Faculty of Communications at Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKÜ) in Gaziantep, focuses on short, student-made films with the aim of discovering talented young filmmakers and helping to set them on the path to professional careers in the field.
More than 70 short films by students competed in the festival, with eight filmmakers receiving awards in two film categories, fiction and documentary. Established actors, directors and film scholars served as members of the jury and selected the award winners in each category. Serdar Altun from Gaziantep University received the award for best fiction film with “The Doll,” while Begim Joldubai from Manas University was selected as the winner of the best documentary award for “Far Away.”
It was quite a memorable event for the Bilkent COMD students, as they had a chance to meet and exchange ideas with young filmmakers like themselves who share the same passion for film. “Hasan Kalyoncu University has a beautiful modern campus with very friendly faculty members and students, who warmly welcomed us,” said Riad Afandiyev, one of the COMD students who went on the trip.
The event also offered an opportunity for COMD administrative assistant Sabire Özyalçın and COMD instructor Fulten Larlar to exchange ideas with HKÜ faculty members about possible academic and professional collaboration in the future.
By Sherimbek Zhunushev (COMD/IV)