Athlete
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2025 – Turkey, Romania, Germany
80 mins
Hatice, a young and ambitious weightlifter living with her unemployed mother, aims to win the lifetime allowance provided to athletes who win medals in international competitions. In her pursuit of success at all costs, she decides to use an unconventional doping technique at the world championships: She will get pregnant, boost her hormones, and then have an abortion. But when her attempts don’t go as well as she’s anticipated, she has to take unexpected detours.
FUNDED BY Berlinale World Cinema Fund, Hubert Bals Fund+Europe
IN COLLABORATION WITHİzmir Sinema Ofisi
CASTSevda Baş, Tarhan Karagöz, Esra Kızıldoğan, Ercan Kesal, Bilgesu Akın, Gamze Akça Özcan
CREWWRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Semih Gülen & Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun
PRODUCED BY Vigo Film & Amok Film
PRODUCER Arda Çiltepe (Turkey)
CO-PRODUCER Zeynep Dişbudak, Anamaria Antoci & Anda Ionescu (Tangaj Production - RO), Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Claus Herzog-Reichel, Mario von Grumbkow (Filmfaust - DE)
CINEMATOGRAPHER Ayşe Alacakaptan
ORIGINAL MUSIC Eylül Deniz Keleş
SOUND RECORDIST Lehel Lajos
SOUND DESIGN Marius Leftarache
PRODUCTION DESIGNER Günsu Sarı
COSTUME DESIGNER & MAKE-UP Yağmur Yaraş
GAFFER Yusuf Elbaşı
2ND AD, COSTUME ASSISTANT & MAKING-OF Çağatay Turan
WORLD PREMIEREIstanbul Film Festival - Main Competition
– Best Cinematography
03_07_2025 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JO: CHAPTER PHAEDRA FUNDED BY MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG
22_04_2025 NEW DAWN FADES WON THE BEST DIRECTOR AWARD & ATHLETE WON THE BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD AT ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL
02_03_2025 ATHLETE AT ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL
10_07_2024 NEW DAWN FADES WILL PREMIERE AT THE MAIN COMPETITION OF LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL
10_07_2023 ATHLETE FUNDED BY WORLD CINEMA FUND
30_06_2023 ATHLETE FUNDED BY HUBERT BALS FUND
25_03_2022 NEW DAWN FADES FUNDED BY MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG
10_12_2021 NEW DAWN FADES FUNDED BY EURIMAGES
30_07_2021 NEW DAWN FADES FUNDED BY ITALIAN CO-PRODUCTION FUND
15_02_2021 NEW DAWN FADES FUNDED BY MEDIENBOARD
01_11_2020 BLACK SUN AT INTERNATIONALES FILMFESTIVAL BRAUNSCHWEIG
01_11_2020 BLACK SUN AT IZMIR SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
01_11_2020 BLACK SUN AT KFFK / KURZFILMFESTIVAL KÖLN
01_11_2020 BLACK SUN AT L'ALTERNATIVE IN BARCELONA
01_11_2020 BLACK SUN AT SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION
29_07_2020 BLACK SUN WON THE BEST SHORT FILM AWARD AT ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL
21_07_2020 NEW DAWN FADES FUNDED BY WORLD CINEMA FUND
22_05_2020 NEW DAWN FADES FUNDED BY SORFOND
20_05_2020 BLACK SUN AT VIENNE SHORTS
25_03_2020 BLACK SUN TO HAVE ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE IN NEW DIRECTORS / NEW FILMS PRESENTED BY THE LINCOLN FILM CENTER AND MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
05_03_2020 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT TAMPERE FILM FESTIVAL
27_01_2020 BLACK SUN AT THE SHORT COMPETITION AT VILNIUS FILM FESTIVAL
21_01_2020 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT MINIMALEN SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
15_12_2019 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT ISTANBUL MODERN
28_11_2019 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT BELGRADE AUTEUR FILM FESTIVAL
26_10_2019 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT ANTALYA FILM FESTIVAL
18_10_2019 ATHLETE SELECTED FOR THE CO-PRODUCTION AND PITCHING FORUM AT MIA MARKET ROME
16_10_2019 BLACK SUN TO HAVE ITS NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE AT THE PORTLAND INT'L FILM FESTIVAL
08_10_2019 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT AYVALIK FILM FESTIVAL
01_10_2019 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT BOGAZICI FILM FESTIVAL
19_09_2019 BLACK SUN WILL SCREEN AT REYKJAVÍK FILM FESTIVAL
17_09_2019 ATHLETE TO BE PITCHED AT COCOPITCH
21_08_2019 BLACK SUN SCREENED AT SARAJEVO
17_08_2019 BLACK SUN WON THE BEST SHORT FILM AWARD AT LOCARNO
10_06_2019 ATHLETE AWARDED A SPECIAL MENTION FOR EURIMAGES CO-PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD AT THE TRANSILVANIA PITCH STOP.
22_05_2019 NEW DAWN FADES AWARDED WITH THE SORFOND PITCH PRIZE IN THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL'S CINEFONDATION L'ATELIER
05_11_2018 NEW DAWN FADES GRANTED WITH DEVELOPMENT FUND OF THE GERMAN-TURKISH CO-PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT FUND
21_02_2018 THE PILLAR OF SALT PREMIERED AT BERLINALE FORUM
28_04_2025 PROJ12 REJECTED BY HUBERT BALS FUND
20_03_2025 UTDE REJECTED BY MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG
06_03_2025 PROJ12 REJECTED BY MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG
08_04_2024 PROJ07 REJECTED BY TFL AUDIENCE LAB
30_06_2023 PROJ07 REJECTED BY HUBERT BALS FUND
10_03_2023 ATHLETE REJECTED BY MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG
02_03_2023 ATHLETE REJECTED BY DOHA FILM INSTITUTE
12_12_2022 PROJ07 REJECTED BY VISIONS SUD EST
03_07_2022 PROJ07 REJECTED BY DOHA FILM INSTITUTE
25_11_2021 PROJ08 REJECTED BY VISIONS SUD EST
02_01_2021 ATHLETE REJECTED BY THE TURKISH MINISTRY OF CULTURE
14_12_2020 PROJ07 REJECTED BY CNC AIDE AUX CINÉMAS DU MONDE
25_11_2020 PROJ07 REJECTED BY VISIONS SUD EST
25_09_2020 PROJ07 REJECTED BY MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG
11_11_2019 PROJ07 REJECTED BY HUBERT BALS FUND
08_05_2018 PROJ07 REJECTED BY HUBERT BALS FUND
09_08_2017 PROJ11 REJECTED BY DOHA FILM INSTITUTE