British actor Owen Teale, a BAFTA winner, has been named best actor at the fourth Digital Film Festival Istanbul (DFFI 2026) for his role in the UK production "Something Pointless", Anadolu Agency reported on 21 October.
The festival, organised by the Digital Film Academy, ran from 16 to 20 October with screenings, talks and industry meetings, and ended with an awards ceremony at Fişekhane’s main stage in Istanbul.
Eight awards for one British film
"Something Pointless", directed by Asa Bailey, dominated the ceremony with eight prizes: best fiction film, best director, best screenplay, best editing, best cinematography, best art direction, best sound and music, and best actor for Teale.
Teale is known to international audiences for television roles including Ser Alliser Thorne in "Game of Thrones".
Other winners came from several countries. Iranian filmmaker Malek Eghbali took best animation for "Like Friend, Like Deer", Brazil’s Rodrigo Sena won best documentary for "Recife Has a Heart", and Erdal Ruhi Duran won best experimental film for "Balerin". The best AI-assisted film award went to Jonathan Perry of the United States for "Railbound". Bettina Hoppe was named best actress for "Ishaq", directed by Tuna Kaptan.
Special awards went to Cihan Emre Zengin’s documentary "Engelsiz Pedal" (Limitless Pedal), which received the UN Sustainable Development Goals Award, and to Mark Wachholz’s German film "Ceremony", which received the Digital Film Academy Special Award.
Films from 27 countries
This year’s theme focused on a shared future and human-centred digital transformation in cinema. Organisers received entries from 27 countries, and 25 works were screened: 18 finalists and seven official selections across fiction, animation, documentary, experimental, fashion and AI-assisted categories. The festival added a competition for AI-assisted films two years ago.
Screenings and talks were held at the AKM Yeşilçam Cinema in the renovated Atatürk Cultural Centre in Taksim, at Müze Gazhane, a former gasworks turned cultural venue in Kadıköy, and at Özyeğin University.
A busy autumn for film in Türkiye
The festival is part of a crowded autumn calendar for cinema in Türkiye. The Bosphorus Film Festival is screening its international competition in Istanbul, while Antalya prepares for the Golden Orange Film Festival, the country’s oldest film awards. Earlier this month the Contemporary Istanbul art fair drew 38,500 visitors. For newcomers exploring the city’s cultural scene, our guide to living in Istanbul offers more background.
Sources
Photo: Maurice Flesier / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
