Skip to content
30 Jan – 9 Feb 2025

Pelin Esmer

Pelin ESMER (1972, Turkey) is an Istanbul-based director. After her studies in sociology, she founded her film company Sinefilm in 2001 and has made independent films ever since. Esmer made two award-winning documentaries before focusing on fiction films, most of which have been produced as international co-productions. Her feature documentary The Play (2005) made its international premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival. It has been screened at over 50 festivals around the world and received many awards including The Best New Documentary Filmmaker at Tribeca Film Festival. Her debut fiction feature 10 to 11 (2009) was one of six chosen projects by Cannes Film Festival’s Residence du Cinefondation in Paris. Her second fiction, Watchtower (2012), which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam, won a handful of awards at the Adana Golden Bowl Film Festival in Turkey, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. In 2018, Esmer was invited to Berlin by DAAD Artists-in-Residence Program where she worked on her documentary film Queen Lear (2019) which later premiered in Sarajevo Film Festival. Her latest film is And The Rest Will Follow (2024).

Filmography

Koleksiyoncu/The Collector (2002, short doc), Oyun/The Play (2005, doc), 11’e 10 kala/10 to 11 (2009), Gozetleme kulesi/Watchtower (2012), Ișe Yarar Bir Șey/Something Useful (2017), Kraliçe Lear/Queen Lear (2019, doc), O DA BIR SEY MI/AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW (2024)

More info: Wikipedia, Pelin Esmer

Pelin Esmer at IFFR

  • And the Rest Will Follow

    A hotel housekeeper and a filmmaker ignite each other’s imaginations in an extraordinary friendship.

  • Watchtower

    He hides from his own conscience by fleeing into a remote watchtower. She flees her surroundings in the basement of a rural bus station. Both have

  • 10 to 11

    In Pelin Esmers’ feature debut, time plays the leading role. Around an 80-year-old collector, the film shows today’s Turkey: a country that i