Sibel Guvenc is an internationally acclaimed Turkish director, writer, and producer based in Toronto with over thirty film awards and nominations at international film festivals including the 2019 Humanitarian Award Honourable Mention. In her futuristic dramas and absurd comedies in film and TV, Sibel Guvenc explores social justice issues, women empowerment, and the future of science and the environment.

Sibel was selected for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Impact Producers Lab with her feature film project LOYA as one of the ten impact driven fiction projects from around the world. LOYA received Telefilm Canada production funding in 2023 as well as development funding in 2021, the Canada Council for the Arts Professional Development Grant, and was shortlisted to 100 original independent feature film projects amongst 10,000 applications for the NETFLIX Canadian Pitch Day. With LOYA, Sibel was also selected for the Telefilm-supported 2021 JETS co-production market that takes place at Berlinale, the 2020 Whistler Film Festival (WFF) Producers Lab, and WFF Power Pitch presented by NETFLIX in association with Telefilm, Creative BC and CMPA.

Sibel is recently selected for the 2023 Netflix Banff Diversity of Voices, was also selected for the Banff Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media in 2022, 2016 Telefilm Producers without Borders Berlinale Coproduction Market, and CMPA Telefilm Producer Trainee Program.

Sibel’s short film, End of the Rope (2020), premiered at the world-known 38th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. In addition, it received Best Sci-Fi Film awards at festivals from Beverley Hills to Houston with additional screenings from San Francisco to Moscow. Turkish Mesir Macunu (2019) was officially selected, awarded, and nominated in international film festivals in Canada (7 nominations), Chile, Turkey, India, Romania, and the U.S. among others.

With a unique background in visual arts and music, Sibel has an MFA in Film from York University, an Honours BFA in Integrated Media/Film from OCAD University, and High Honours BFA in Statistics. Sibel is a TIFF Filmmakers Lab and WIDC Director Alumna (Women In the Director’s Chair). She is a part-time professor at Sheridan College BFA in Film and TV Program teaching thesis film production, and advanced directing.