Biographies of the Festival Organizers

Adem Sözüer (Festival President)

Adem Sözüer graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1983. He became an associate professor in 2000 and a full professor in 2008. From 2009 to 2017, he served as Dean of Istanbul University Faculty of Law. The author of numerous national and international publications, books and book chapters, Sözüer currently teaches at Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Law. With scholarships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Max Planck Institute, he has conducted doctoral and post-doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law.

Professor Sözüer was assigned by Istanbul University to assist the Turkish legislature in the Turkish Criminal Law Reform. Within this context, he served in many sub-commissions of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Justice Commission as well as the Ministry of Justice. Professor Sözüer has been instrumental in the drafting of fundamental laws such as the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Law on the Execution of Penalties and Security Measures, and the Law on Misdemeanors. He has also actively contributed to the amendment of the Police Powers and Duties Law as well as the drafting of the Law on Protection of the Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women. Professor Sözüer has given numerous talks in Turkey and abroad to promote and strengthen the implementation of Turkish Criminal Law Reform. He is also the architect and president of the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival, which is the first of its kind. Adem Sözüer has organized many other international events such as the Turkish Criminal Law Days, Law on the Bosphorus Summer School, Turkish-Korean Criminal Law Days, Turkey – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatia Law Days, Turkey – Slovenia Law Days, and the Turkey – Italy Law Days. He is the editor of the multilingual Journal of Penal Law and Criminology, which is unique in Turkey in terms of its subject. Adem Sözüer regularly appears in the media to inform the public on matters of criminal law, fair trial, human rights, freedom of expression, violence against women, and discrimination. He also frequently collaborates with civil society in these areas, especially with women’s rights associations.

In 2011, with the aim of bringing science and the arts together, he founded the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival as a thematic festival centred on the motto “Justice for All.” He continues to serve as President of the festival, whose establishment he pioneered.

Bengi Semerci (Festival Director)

Bengi Semerci graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1986 and subsequently completed her specialist training in Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Pursuing an academic career, she became an associate professor in 1999 and a full professor in 2005.

In addition to providing treatment and follow-up care for children, adolescents and adults, Semerci continues her educational activities, individual and institutional consultancy, writing, and social responsibility projects at the Bengi Semerci Institute.

Semerci has created and presented several television programmes on psychiatry, including Hadi Paylaşalım, broadcast weekly on ATV in 2006; Yaşam Sohbetleri, broadcast on TRT 1 in 2008; and Psiko-Analiz, broadcast on Habertürk TV in 2010. She was also a columnist for the Saturday supplement of Sabah newspaper from 2005 to 2017 and for Kariyer from 2014 to 2017.

Prof. Dr. Semerci is actively involved in social responsibility initiatives. Working in collaboration with civil society organisations and international institutions, she has contributed on a voluntary basis to projects concerning children living in institutional care, children living and working on the streets, children in conflict with the law, girls subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, refugees, domestic violence, and family structures and related problems. In 2011, she served as an adviser to the Minister at the Ministry of Family and Social Policies on these issues. Her work concerning girls subjected to commercial sexual exploitation received an award in Europe.

Semerci has worked as a consultant on various film and television scripts since 1999 and has been a member of the European Film Academy since 2018. She is one of the founders of the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival, established in 2011, and continues to serve as its Festival Director.

Alongside her scientific articles published in Türkiye and abroad, Semerci has contributed articles to numerous periodicals, authored chapters in academic publications, and edited scientific books. She is also the author of 18 published books.

Alin Taşcıyan (Festival Programme Director)

Alin Taşcıyan was born in Istanbul in 1969. She attended Beyoğlu Anatolian High School from 1980 to 1987 and studied Journalism and Public Relations at Istanbul University’s School of Press and Broadcasting from 1987 to 1991.

In 1992, she began working at Milliyet Sanat magazine and in the Arts and Culture Department of Milliyet newspaper, where she spent 16 years as a proofreader, reporter, film critic and editor. From 2008 to 2015, she worked as a columnist and film critic for Star newspaper.

Taşcıyan began her television career in 1994 with Bir Zamanlar Genç Sinemacılar, a programme showcasing the work of young short-film directors, which she continued to present at various times in subsequent years. Between 1996 and 2006, she co-created and co-presented Sinema Büyüsü with Atilla Dorsay, featuring approximately 500 classic films. In 1998, together with Ali Hakan, Mehmet Açar and Tuna Erdem—later joined by Yeşim Tabak—she produced the current film criticism programme Sinema Koltuğu for NTV. The programme later continued on TRT under the title Beyazperde. In 2007, she and Ali Hakan brought Beyazperde to Kanal 24. From 2008 to 2012, she created and presented the Thematic Film Showcase on Kanal 24, featuring significant works of world cinema.

Her articles have appeared in numerous magazines and online publications and are currently published on Sanatatak. From 2019 to 2023, she co-presented Film Önü / Film Arkası with Mehmet Açar on TRT 2, introducing and discussing contemporary films.

Taşcıyan has worked as a consultant and programmer for the Istanbul Film Festival, Istanbul Short Film Festival, Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Malatya Film Festival, Aegean Film Festival in Patmos, Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival and Filmmor Women’s Film Festival. She currently serves as Programme Director of the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival and as an adviser to the Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival. For the past decade, she has also periodically delivered seminars on cinema at Simya Gallery.

She has served as a jury member and jury president at numerous major festivals in Türkiye and around the world, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Montreal, Busan, Thessaloniki and Beijing.

Beginning in 2009, Taşcıyan served two consecutive terms as Vice-President of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI). From 2014, she served two consecutive terms as FIPRESCI President and subsequently as Deputy Secretary General until 2025. She is also a member of the European Film Academy.

Her honours include the İFSAK Cinema Award in 2001; the Bilge Olgaç Achievement Award presented by the Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival in 2014; the Television Critic of the Year Award at the 2023 TÜMBİFED Academy Culture and Science Awards; and the Contribution to Cinema Award at the 13th International Crime and Punishment Film Festival. In 2026, she received the Arab Cinema Center’s International Critics Lifetime Achievement Award.

İzlem Oktay (International Relations and Short Film Coordinator)

İzlem Oktay graduated with high honours from the Arts and Cultural Management Department at Istanbul Bilgi University. She also holds an associate degree in European Union Relations.

Oktay began her film festival career at the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival in 2016. Throughout her career, she has worked in festival management, international programming, project development and strategic partnerships for various festivals and cultural institutions, including the Bergama Theatre Festival, Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, Ankara Film Festival, Gastronomy Film Festival, Atlas 1948 Cinema and Beykoz Kundura.

With more than 15 years of experience in arts and cultural management, Oktay works as a cultural professional and project consultant. In 2023, she founded SisCo, an independent initiative that develops cultural projects. She currently serves as International Relations and Short Film Coordinator of the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival.