Kıvılcım Akay produces projects in the fields of human rights, culture and arts. Seeking a new form in each of her films, she finds the liberating language of the documentary genre close to her. She has worked as an agency coordinator and copyrighter on many projects for advertisement agencies (2009–2011). She founded Akaylar Production in 2011, which produced the first Turkish Fashion documentary Modanın Yüzyılı [A Century of Fashion] that was aired on TRT (Turkish Radio Television). Her documentary, My Wish Is Peace (2014), called for peace in the world from children’s point of view, and had its world premiere at the Istanbul International Film Festival. Her most recent documentary, Amina (2019) has received many awards, including Special Jury Award, Boston Turkish Film Festival (2019), Best Pitching Award, Antalya Film Forum (2016) and Post Production Award, New Film Fund (2018). Akay has presented several panels at film festivals, such as Documentary Film Production, Istanbul (2021), Ethics of Documentary, Istanbul (2020), and Children In War Zones, Copenhagen (2016). She was a jury member at Bosphorus Film Festival (2018) and an advisory board member at Meeting O The Bridge / Istanbul Film Festival (2019). She earned a degree in Fine Arts from Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey (2008). Born in 1986 in Izmir, Turkey, Akay currently lives and works in Istanbul. SAF Participation: Sharjah Film Platform 4 (2021)