Zlín Film Festival Awarded in Istanbul
22. October 2026
The Turkish Universal Kids Film Festival has awarded the Zlín Film Festival for fourteen years of significant international cooperation. Our dramaturgs Jaroslava Hynštová and Zuzana Bahulová brought back not only a prestigious award from Istanbul, but also presented a successful project featuring Czech animated films in Türkiye.
The Czech Republic was one of five countries in the spotlight at this year's festival. In Türkiye, the Zlín Film Festival presented its unique project titled Zlín Film Festival Presents: Czech Animation, which brings the best of contemporary domestic production to the world.
Director, artist, and Zlín dramaturg Zuzana Bahulová organized a special animation workshop in the town of Yalova for members of the Yeni Yaşam association, which supports people with disabilities.
The trip also brought our colleagues a number of inspiring conversations with international peers. They met, for example, with delegates from the Seoul Children’s Film Festival in Korea and with Eirik Sæter Stordahl, director of the Norwegian film Lars is LOL, which opened the 64th Zlín Film Festival. They also established valuable contacts with filmmakers and organizers from South Africa, Bulgaria, Italy, Tunisia, and Indonesia.
The climax of the festival program in Türkiye was the closing ceremony, where the Zlín Film Festival received major recognition for its long-standing support, development of children's cinema, and bridging of cultures. Both festivals have shared close ties and a warm friendship since 2013. Rowena Martinez Ulayan Tuzcuoglu, founder and director of the Turkish festival (and president of the Children’s Film & Art Association), is an annual guest in Zlín, where she draws cinematic and organizational inspiration for her own festival.
We deeply value this long-standing partnership and look forward to continuing our shared journey of inspiring young audiences and connecting cultures through the universal language of film,
said Rowena Martinez Ulayan Tuzcuoglu, adding that the award represents recognition of their joint efforts to advance children's cinema, foster youth creativity, and strengthen international friendship and cultural understanding through film.
The Universal Kids Film Festival is the only international festival for children and youth in Türkiye and a member of the prestigious ECFA and CIFEJ organizations. Alongside its film program, it focuses on social inclusion, children's rights, and connecting young audiences from around the world through the art of cinema.
