Sibel Guvenc
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Sibel Guvenc is an internationally acclaimed Turkish Canadian director, writer, and producer based in Toronto with over thirty film awards and nominations at international film festivals including the Humanitarian Award Honourable Mention. In her futuristic dramas and absurd comedies in film and TV, Sibel Guvenc explores social justice issues, women empowerment, and the future of science and the environment. With a unique background in visual arts and music, Sibel has an MFA in Film from York University, an Honours BFA in Integrated Media/Film from OCAD University, and High Honours BFA in Statistics. Sibel is a TIFF Filmmakers Lab and WIDC Director Alumna (Women In the Director's Chair).
Sibel was selected for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Impact Producers Lab with her feature film project LOYA as one of the ten impact driven fiction feature projects from a pool of global submissions. LOYA received Telefilm Canada production funding in 2023 as well as development funding in 2021, Canada Council for the Arts Professional Development Grant, and was shortlisted to 100 original independent feature film projects amongst 10,000 applications for the NETFLIX Canadian Pitch Day. With LOYA, Sibel was also selected for the Telefilm-supported 2021 JETS co-production market that takes place at Berlinale, the 2020 Whistler Film Festival (WFF) Producers Lab and WFF Power Pitch presented by NETFLIX in association with Telefilm, Creative BC and CMPA.
Sibel was selected for the 2023 Netflix Banff Diversity of Voices, was also selected for the Banff Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media in 2022, 2016 Telefilm Producers without Borders Berlinale Coproduction Market, and CMPA Telefilm Producer Trainee Program.
Sibel's short film, End of the Rope (2020), was officially selected to screen at one of the most prestigious fantasy film festivals in the world, the 38th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. In addition, it received Best Sci-Fi Film awards at festivals from Beverley Hills to Houston with additional screenings from San Francisco to Moscow. Turkish Mesir Macunu (2019) was officially selected, awarded and nominated in international film festivals in Canada (7 nominations), Chile, Turkey, India, Romania, the U.S. among others. Sibel's earlier short films fared just as well on the festival circuit: Hungarian Salami (2007) was nominated for Best Comedy at the Yorkton Golden Sheaf Awards and was considered for Canada's Top Ten Shorts by the TIFF Group. Her acclaimed film, In the Penal Colony (2006), based on Franz Kafka's short story, received awards at festivals from New York to Kolkata, was presented alongside Orson Welles' The Trial, and was included as part of a trilogy in Teatro Municipal da Guarda together with Philip Glass's opera based on the same story. Sibel's films have been sold for broadcast and have aired on Shot TV, BRAVO!Canada, CBC, CTV, Deutsche Welle, and Ragusani nel Mondo.
In addition to her films, Sibel was also awarded personally for her work. They include Best Shorts' Humanitarian Award - Honourable Mention for important topics presented with excellent filmmaking craft, as well as the W. Lawrence Heisey Graduate Award recognizing outstanding ability and achievement in creative work. In 2019, she was presented with the Miron Deca Memorial Award for an ardent intellectual curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, and an interdisciplinary dedication. Sibel lives with her partner and daughter in Toronto, Canada.
Sibel was selected for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Impact Producers Lab with her feature film project LOYA as one of the ten impact driven fiction feature projects from a pool of global submissions. LOYA received Telefilm Canada production funding in 2023 as well as development funding in 2021, Canada Council for the Arts Professional Development Grant, and was shortlisted to 100 original independent feature film projects amongst 10,000 applications for the NETFLIX Canadian Pitch Day. With LOYA, Sibel was also selected for the Telefilm-supported 2021 JETS co-production market that takes place at Berlinale, the 2020 Whistler Film Festival (WFF) Producers Lab and WFF Power Pitch presented by NETFLIX in association with Telefilm, Creative BC and CMPA.
Sibel was selected for the 2023 Netflix Banff Diversity of Voices, was also selected for the Banff Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media in 2022, 2016 Telefilm Producers without Borders Berlinale Coproduction Market, and CMPA Telefilm Producer Trainee Program.
Sibel's short film, End of the Rope (2020), was officially selected to screen at one of the most prestigious fantasy film festivals in the world, the 38th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. In addition, it received Best Sci-Fi Film awards at festivals from Beverley Hills to Houston with additional screenings from San Francisco to Moscow. Turkish Mesir Macunu (2019) was officially selected, awarded and nominated in international film festivals in Canada (7 nominations), Chile, Turkey, India, Romania, the U.S. among others. Sibel's earlier short films fared just as well on the festival circuit: Hungarian Salami (2007) was nominated for Best Comedy at the Yorkton Golden Sheaf Awards and was considered for Canada's Top Ten Shorts by the TIFF Group. Her acclaimed film, In the Penal Colony (2006), based on Franz Kafka's short story, received awards at festivals from New York to Kolkata, was presented alongside Orson Welles' The Trial, and was included as part of a trilogy in Teatro Municipal da Guarda together with Philip Glass's opera based on the same story. Sibel's films have been sold for broadcast and have aired on Shot TV, BRAVO!Canada, CBC, CTV, Deutsche Welle, and Ragusani nel Mondo.
In addition to her films, Sibel was also awarded personally for her work. They include Best Shorts' Humanitarian Award - Honourable Mention for important topics presented with excellent filmmaking craft, as well as the W. Lawrence Heisey Graduate Award recognizing outstanding ability and achievement in creative work. In 2019, she was presented with the Miron Deca Memorial Award for an ardent intellectual curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, and an interdisciplinary dedication. Sibel lives with her partner and daughter in Toronto, Canada.