Sustainers Film Festival — Sürdürebilirsin Film Festivali 2026

About Sustainers Film Festival

Sustainers Film Festival looks at cinema through the journey of the film itself. Its idea of sustainability is built into circulation: how a finished work reaches its first audience, how an earlier film returns to the screen, how an unfinished project can still be shared, and how existing footage can become the material for a new film.

Organised in Ankara by Sürdürebilirsin Kültür ve Ekoloji Derneği, the festival continues the second-life approach associated with 2. El Film Festivali. That history gives the programme a clear character: films can move, return, change form and find new contexts throughout their life.

Sustainers Film Festival Competition Sections

The programme welcomes documentary, fiction, animation, experimental, essay, video art and hybrid forms. Its four competition sections are shaped around the film’s current state. New Circulation is for completed work beginning its festival journey. Re-Circulation brings previously screened films back to audiences. The Unfinished creates a screening context for projects that remain incomplete. Film Compost — Second Cut is dedicated to new films built from archive, found, discarded or repurposed footage.

This structure makes Sustainers particularly relevant for filmmakers whose work sits outside a conventional “new release” path. A completed short with limited screening history, a film returning after an earlier festival run, an unfinished edit and a found-footage work can each enter through a section designed for that specific situation.

Sustainers Film Festival 2026 Dates, Deadline and Competition Routes

The 2026 edition takes place at CerModern in Ankara on 7–8 November, with submissions open until 19 October 2026.

The call is international and covers documentary, fiction, animation, experimental, essay, video-art and hybrid work. The four competition sections organise films according to their production and exhibition history, giving each project a route that reflects its current stage.

New Circulation is designed for completed films beginning their circulation. Re-Circulation is for work that has already been screened and is ready to meet audiences again. The Unfinished welcomes interrupted or incomplete projects in forms such as rough cuts, edit drafts or other unfinished material. Film Compost — Second Cut focuses on new films created from existing footage, where the source and rights status of the material form an important part of the project.

For filmmakers working with archive, found footage or other pre-existing images, rights clearance is part of submission readiness. For non-Turkish-language films, English subtitles are required at the submission stage. Each film enters through one competition section, keeping the relationship between the project and its circulation history clear.

Selected films are screened at CerModern during the festival. The festival also works with filmmakers on later circulation opportunities through separate permissions, including additional screenings and educational presentation.

Choosing the Right Sustainers Film Festival Section

At Sustainers, the film’s circulation history and current state determine the strongest section. AD1 FILM can review whether a project belongs in New Circulation, Re-Circulation, The Unfinished or Film Compost — Second Cut, then check the screening history, source-material rights and festival materials that matter for that specific route.