selmasirinart@gmail.com

Selma Şirin is a LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights activist, co-founder of Havle, Turkey’s first Muslim feminist association. Her poetic, creative documentaries address political issues and have been shown in Turkey, Estonia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Şirin directed the short documentary “We Need to Talk,” which won the Vincentian Prize for Social Impact at the 2025 Big Shoulders International Student Film Festival in Chicago.

She is a graduate of the Cinema and Television BA course of Istanbul Şehir University (2017) and the Documentary Film MA course of Tallinn University’s Baltic Film, Media, and Arts School (2024). 

Şirin is currently based in Estonia where she continues to blend arts and activism to foster inclusivity, and is making her first feature documentary.

Filmography:

• Intersections of Being / documentary short / 2024 / Estonia
• We Need to Talk / documentary short / 2024 / Estonia
• Beneath the Surface / documentary short / 2023 / Estonia
• Kymbali / documentary short / 2023 / Estonia
• Waiting for the Rain / fiction short / 2018 / Turkey

Festivals and Awards:

• We Need to Talk / Big Shoulders International Student Film Festival / Short Documentary / Chicago, USA / 2025 / The Vincentian Prize for Social Impact
• We Need to Talk / 8th International Women Filmmakers Festival / Short Documentary / Turkey / 2025 / Official selection
• We Need to Talk / Activists Without Borders Film Festival / Short Documentary / England / 2024 / Honorable Mention
• We Need to Talk / Fethiye Film Festival / Short Documentary / Turkey / 2024 / Screening
• Beneath the Surface / 5th International Erzincan Short Film Festival / Short Documentary / Turkey / 2023 / Finalist
• Beneath the Surface / Directed By Women Turkey / Short Documentary / Turkey / 2023 / Finalist