‘Memory of Princess Mumbi,’ Set in a Retro-Futuristic Africa Recreated With AI, Scores Istanbul Film Festival Top Prize

Swiss-Kenyan director Damien Hauser’s dystopian fable “Memory of Princess Mumbi,” set during 2093 in an imaginary Africa created with the use of artificial intelligence, scooped the Golden Tulip Award at the Istanbul Film Festival on Sunday.

Set in the futuristic African country of Umata, “Memory of Princess Mumbi” is a playful meta-fiction that is part romance, part mockumentary and revolves around a love triangle between a film director named Kuve, an aspiring actress and a prince.

Related Stories

'Roommates' Review: Besties Turn Testy in an Uneven College Comedy With Two Terrific Leads

The film’s Istanbul Film Festival victory marks the first time a feature made with AI has won the top award at a prominent film festival.

In an interview with Variety, Hauser readily admitted he could have never made the film without using AI, even as he, paradoxically, set out to “make a movie that AI could never make.” “Memory of Princess Mumbi” launched last September from Venice’s independently-run Venice Days section before traveling widely, including to Toronto and Zurich.

The Istanbul festival jury, headed by Scottish director David Mackenzie (“Fuze”), awarded the event’s special jury prize to Chinese arthouse darling Bi Gan’s six-part epic “Resurrection,” in which a movie monster drifts through China’s 100-year history. “Resurrection” previously won the 2025 Cannes Jury Special Prize.

Istanbul’s best director honors went to French duo Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka’s coming-of-age drama “Summer Beats,” while the screenplay prize went to Austrian filmmaker Markus Schleinzer and his co-writer Alexander Brom for Sandra Hüller-starrer “Rose.” In this historical tragedy, Hüller plays a 17th-century woman living as a man.

Turkish films took the acting honors. The best actress prize went to İnci Sefa Cingöz for her role as a tormented young woman in first-time director Pinar Yorgancioglu’s drama “Those Who Whistle After Dark” Kemal Burak Alper took actor honors for Nuri Cihan Özdoğan’s “Dead Dogs Don’t Bite,” which mixes social drama and gangland war film tropes. 

The 45th Istanbul Film Festival, which ran April 9-19, marked a revamped edition of Turkey’s top film event and market. Artistic director Kerem Ayan has made the festival more global under a new format that mixes Turkish and international works in the main competition, while also driving local cinema by still having other sections dedicated solely to Turkish works.

The festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), also had a vibrant edition of its Meetings on the Bridge market component being relaunched under the new leadership of former Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival chief Başak Emre and Pınar Evrenosoğlu.

And the winners are…

GOLDEN TULIP COMPETITION

Golden Tulip Best Film – “Memory of Princess Mumbi,” directed by Damien Hauser

Special Jury Prize – “Resurrection,” directed by Bi Gan

Best Director – Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, “Ma frère” (“Summer Beats”)

Best Screenplay – Markus Schleinzer and Alexander Brom, “Rose”

Best Actress – İnci Sefa Cingöz, “Those Who Whistle After Dark”

Best Actor – Kemal Burak Alper, “Dead Dogs Don’t Bite”

Special Mention (to all animals in films) – “Hen,” directed by György Pálfi

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Best Short Film – “Gravity,” directed by Dalya Keleş

Special Mention – “Love and the Others,” directed by Sitera Değirmen

NEW VISIONS

Seyfi Teoman Best Film Prize – “32 Meters,” directed by Morteza Atabaki

Best Cinematography – Ziya Demirel and Yusuf Tan Demirel for “The Greatest Funeral Hits”

Best Editing – Morteza Atabaki for “32 Meters”

Best Actress – Esra Dermancıoğlu for “The Greatest Funeral Hits”

Best Actor – Burak Dakak for “About My Mom”

Best Supporting Actress – Çağdaş Ekin Şişman for “The Greatest Funeral Hits”

Best Supporting Actor – Özer Keçeci for “The Greatest Funeral Hits”

Best Art Direction – Elif Öner for “Dump of Untitled Pieces”

Best Music – Efe Demiral for “Dump of Untitled Pieces“

INDEPENDENT AWARDS

International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI)

Golden Tulip Competition – Best Film – “Rose of Nevada,” directed by Mark Jenkin

Directors Association of Türkiye (FİLM-YÖN)

Best Director (in memory of Osman Sınav) – Sunay Terzioğlu “Bonds, Roots and Passions”

Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Türkiye (BSB)

Documentary films from Türkiye – Best Documentary – “2m2,” directed by Volkan Üce

Turkish Association of Film Critics (SİYAD)

“Dump of Untitled Pieces,” directed by Melik Kuru