Sezen Kayhan is a multidisciplinary filmmaker and researcher from Turkey, currently based in Germany. She graduated from the Art Department of Ankara Anatolian High School of Fine Arts. She holds a BA in Archaeology and Art History, an MA in Film and TV and a Joint PhD in Film Studies and Visual Culture from the University of Antwerp and Koç University. She participated in short term film programs which were held by the National Film and Television School (NFTS), Venice International University, New York Film Academy and EIUC Human Rights and Cinema School. She is a Sarajevo Talents and Film Independent’s Global Media Makers Los Angeles Residency alumna.

Her short films ‘Time of the Plums’ (2012), ‘Elene’ (2016) and ‘A Hard Day in the Empire’ (2018) were screened and awarded in film festivals including Tribeca, BFI London, Palm Springs, Montreal World, Santa Barbara, New York IFF and many others. ‘Time of the Plums’ qualified for the Academy Awards in 2013. Her video works, paintings and installations were exhibited at Istanbul Modern, Ankara Anatolian Civilizations and Hatay Archaeology Museums.

For several years, she worked in the production and art departments of feature films, documentaries and TV dramas in Italy (Kublai Film), Turkey (TMC, Gold Film, Stil Medya, Tims Productions) and the US (Nu Image/Millenium Films). She also worked as the international hospitality coordinator of Istanbul and Antalya Film Festivals, developed filmmaking course modules for Antalya Film Festival’s film school and worked as script consultant/instructor for the International Istanbul Film Festival’s industry platform ‘Meetings on the Bridge’.

Currently she is working on her first feature hybrid documentary “Women with Purple Violets” which is about the female fans of a local football club. This project is developed and supported by Docmonde’s Eurasiadoc Screenwriting Lab, FIFA Research Scholarship, Dok Leipzig Co-Pro Market, Heinrich Böll Foundation, ANIDOX:LAB, EU Sivil Düşün Fund and Antalya Film Forum.

She continues to work as a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Film, Theater, Media and Cultural Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.