Eylem hails from Istanbul, Turkey where she worked as an advertising manager at CNBC TV and HEARST Magazine Group for several years. Her incessant passion for cinema compelled her to relocate to Vancouver in 2002, where she was awarded a full scholarship to join the film production program of Vancouver Film School. Upon graduation, she landed her first job on the Hollywood blockbuster of the 3rd X MEN as visual effects assistant. She then continued her prolific career on American film productions such as Possession, Frankie and Alice, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, Underworld: Awakening, and Seventh Son. She is a member of the Local Film Union IATSE 891 as Production Coordinator.
She has been organizing the Vancouver Turkish Film Festival since 2011. She is also holding a volunteer position at the Turkish Canadian Society and BC Children’s Hospital.

Ayşe Acar was born on August 10, 1974. After working eight years as a senior sales manager at one of Turkey’s leading media groups, Ayse got pregnant with twins and found herself writing a parenting column – Ayse’s Twins for a national newspaper. Writing has always been a passion for her since her childhood. Her book, “Anneee! Anne Oluyorum! (Mooom! I’m becoming a Mom!)” followed five years after she gave birth and it has been on the shelves since it was first published in 2009.
During her journalism years, she got the opportunity to interview many influential people in Europe ranging from celebrities to politicians, movie stars to designers.
In 2017, Ayse moved to Vancouver, Canada with her teen twins Defne, Ege and her four-legged child Mishka.
In July 2019, her second book “Kanadalılaştıramadıklarımızdan mısınız? ( Not Canadian Enough? )” was published in Turkey. In this book Ayşe takes a humorous look at her immigration story, describing the cultural differences and the tragicomic events that she found herself in, using a witty language. Ayse continues to do her dream job by writing weekly articles for independent internet newspaper T24, where she passionately types the stories of Turkish immigrants all over the world.

Senay is a PhD student at the psychology department at SFU. She regularly travels to South Pacific to observe to how parenting is practiced in a non-Western environment. She lives in Vancouver since 2011 and has been an enthusiast of the VTFF since the first day. She truly enjoys being part of the film selection committee and collaborating with the Seattle Turkish Film festival members to bring the best short films to Vancouverites.

Eli was born in Istanbul. He has worked on numerous national and international film projects over a decade. He graduated from SAE Sound Engineering
School with honours. He received his Master’s Degree on Sound Technologies from Bahcesehir University, where he wrote his thesis on “The Affects of Dolby Atmos Sound Technologies for Sound Design of the Turkish Cinema”. Now he lives in Vancouver and studies Digital Music Production. He is a professional member of Vancouver Post Alliance.
He worked on films that screened at well-known international film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Montreal, Karlovy Vary, Sarajevo, SXSW and Sitges International Film Festival.

In addition to film, Eli is also interested in social and environmental issues. He is a member of many human rights and environmental organizations. He has several articles and interviews published about climate change, nuclear energy, antisemitism and social conflict.