Documentary / 2019 / 70' / Director & Writer: Kıvılcım Akay / Akay Film

Senegalese Amina works as a dress model for a textile store in İstanbul. She had migrated to Turkey tomake money 7 years ago leaving her daughter behind. While she endures the difficulties she experiences with the hope of going back to her daughter one day, she also dreams of becoming a real model.

Producer: Aslıhan Altuğ / DoP: Meryem Yavuz / Editing: Eytan İpeker

World Premiere: Atlanta Film Festival / TV Premiere: PBS (USA)

Documentary / 2023 / 27' / Director: Kıvılcım Akay / Milkİst

As part of a social project, "Olive" is a film that expresses natural and cultural values through the lives of 6 women farmers. Movement workshops were formed to underline the words 'weariness' and 'struggle' that there is for the farmer's body in agriculture; and women farmers made spontaneous short performances. During these performances, women at times mimic their crops, plants in their garden, natural elements like wind and rain and at times the seasons and the passing time with their movements. In the film, farmers take the viewers around their field and analyze the condition of the vegetation in the area. Their struggle to remain in agricultural practices and choosing traditional harvesting methods that consider floral sensibilities despite the climatic conditions shine through while sharing feelings of distinctive life stories.

Producer: Birnur Birtane  / DoP: Tolgahan Tombaş / Performing Artist: Ekin Bernay / Editing: Yasemin Akıncı

Broadcast: BluTV, WaterBear

Documentary / 2025 / 70' / Director: Anıl Eraslan / Tantana Film - Akay Film 

Inspired by a dream, Anıl Eraslan sets out to make a documentary about Istanbul’s free improvisation music scene. Featuring his musician friends who are invited to recite their sonic dreams and stage them as musical performances, the film evolves into a phantasmagoric portrait of Istanbul, shifting between dream and reality.

Producer: Anıl Eraslan, Kıvılcım Akay, Merve Salgar

World Premiere: Istanbul Film Festival

Documentary / 2024 / 72' / Director: Yasemin Akıncı / Akay Film - Avril Films

Ertil, a retired architect, spends his time designing 3D projects in pursuit of dreams of Türkiye’s potential modernisation. Outside, Istanbul builds itself layer upon layer, almost endlessly with its deep history. One day, Ertil receives the news that the building he lives in will be demolished due to its vulnerability to earthquakes. The documentary explores Ertil’s place in a new world as the gap between his dream world and reality grows ever deeper.

Producer: Aslıhan Altuğ, Kıvılcım Akay, Gregory Ghersy, Thomas Robin, Louis Grangé  / DoP: Yasemin Akıncı, Stephanos Magriotis, Meryem Yavuz / Editing:  Yasemin Akıncı, Suzanne Van Boxsom, Valentina Barriga          World Premiere: IDFA

Documentary / 2014 / 43' / Director: Kıvılcım Akay / Akay Film

Ten children and three mothers from Diyarbakır, Lice, Ergani, Cizre, Mardin, Nusaybin, Kızıltepe, and Varto: Children—the greatest victims of a war that has lasted thirty years—and mothers—the ones who have shed the most tears—share how deeply and hopefully they long for peace. Despite all the pain they have endured, the voices in the film echo a common desire: peace. The peace they await is not only for their region, but for the world as a whole. “May Peace Be My Wish” becomes a beacon of hope for those who have lost faith in peace, by telling the stories of lived experience stretching beyond the mountains.

Producer: Kıvılcım Akay / DoP: Halit Soy, Aslı Çelikel / Editing: Kıvılcım Akay, Halit Soy

Documentary Series  / 2012-2013 / 4 Episode / Director: Kıvılcım Akay / Akay Film

Focusing on the key developments that shaped Turkish and global fashion history from 1910 to 2010, this documentary explores how fashion goes far beyond clothing—emerging as a powerful form of expression and a means of communication. Through the lens of socio-economic, political, and cultural changes, it presents fashion as a mirror of the times and a dynamic force intertwined with history.

Producer: Kıvılcım Akay / DoP: Halit Soy / Editing: Kıvılcım Akay, Halit Soy / Photo Editor: Aslı Çelikel / Coordinator: Mustafa Şafak Sezgin

World Rights: TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation)