BIO
Gokhan Okur is a director, artist and entrepreneur born in Eskişehir, Turkey in 1981. He attended Hacettepe University, receiving B.Sc. in Electric-Electronical Engineering in 2005 and Sabancı University, receiving M.F.A. in Visual Communication Design in 2007. Currently lives and works in London, UK.
His body of work ranges from animated short films to audio/visual performances. Okur directed a number of short films and was acknowledged by many international festivals around the globe. He worked as a part-time professor at Maltepe University and Kadir Has University lecturing on animation, illustration and design. He founded Koff Animation Studio in 2012 and delivered bespoke and custom-tailored content for global agencies and brands.
Okur is no stranger to technology and new media; he wrote his engineering graduation project on Matlab by developing Genetic Algorithms for electromagnetic wave functions. His master's thesis, based on Lev Manovich's new media theory, was exploring the possibilities of internet database filmmaking in 2007. Featured in the French newspaper Le Monde and replicated by Instagram after several years.
His passion for building worlds, creating characters and telling stories led him to animation and filmmaking. He is now exploring a hybrid voice in the NFT art space.
SELECTED AWARDS
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Animation, Platinum Award, MarCom, Dallas, USA, 2020
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Corporate Image, Platinum Award, MarCom, Dallas, USA, 2020
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Digital Marketing, Platinum Award, MarCom, Dallas, USA, 2020
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E-Mail Communication, Platinum Award, MarCom, Dallas, USA, 2020
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Best Use of Infographic, Gold Award, Native Advertising Institute Awards, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2020
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Best Design, Gold Award, Native Advertising Institute Awards, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2020
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Silver Award, MEA Summit International Marketing Effectiveness Award, Oregon, USA, 2020
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Digital Marketing, Platinum Canopus Winner, Vega Digital Awards, 2020
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Best Use of Video, Platinum Canopus Winner, Vega Digital Awards, 2020
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Gold World Medal Animated Promo, New York Festivals, New York, USA, 2017
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Best Animated Short Film, 7th Yıldız Short Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2010
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Jury Award, 21th Ankara Film Festival, Ankara, Turkey, 2010
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Best Animation Award, Terminal 00 Balkan Art Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2006
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F – Chair Jury Award, Terminal 00 Balkan Art Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2006
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Best Music Video Award, Planet Ant Film Festival &Video Festival, Detroit, USA, 2006
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Finalist - Motion Graphics Category, San Francisco Flashforward Film Festival, USA, 2005
EXHIBITIONS
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22th Dresden Short Film Festival Exchange Forum Member, 2010, Dresden, Germany
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Rojo Group Show, Milk Gallery, July 2009, Istanbul, Turkey
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What is White Exhibition, Ada Street Gallery, August 2008, London, UK
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Galataperform Visibility Project 4, Dr Jykll Mr Hyde Audiovisual Performance, October 2008, Istanbul, Turkey
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Sabancı University Fass Gallery, May 2007, Istanbul, Turkey
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Chashama Gallery, November 2006, Manhattan, NYC, USA
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Lumen Eclipse Gallery, August 2006, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Paris 'Who is Next' Fashion show exhibition, February 2006, France
SELECTED FESTIVALS
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21th Ankara Film Festival, Ankara, Turkey, 2010
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Portable Film Festival 2009, Melbourne, Australia, 2009
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46th Golden Orange Film Festival, Antalya, Turkey, 2008
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15th Sarajevo Film Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2009
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4th Anim'est International Animation Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania,2009
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10th Izmir Short Film Festival, Izmir, Turkey, 2009
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Portobello Film Festival, London, UK, 2009
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If Istanbul Independent Film Festival 2009, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009
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5th Akbank Short Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2008
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Istanbul Animation Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2008
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28th Istanbul International Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009
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Animatu International Digital Animation Festival, Beja, Portugal, 2009
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Le:60 1-Minute Film Festival, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2008
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Istanbul Animation Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2008
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5th Akbank Short Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2008
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45th Golden Orange Film Festival, Antalya, Turkey, 2008
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NYCR 2006 International Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey and New York, USA, 2007
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5th Ofensiva International Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland, 2007
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Terminal 00, Balkan Art Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2007
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Animatu Digital Animation Festival, Portugal, 2007
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Festival Miden - Contemporary video art, Kalamata, Greece, 2007
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Arcipelago, 15th International Festival of Short Films and New Images, Rome, Italy, 2007
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ReAnimacja Festival, Lodz, Poland, 2007
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The Geopolitics of the Animation, Sevilla, Spain, 2007
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Local Point TV, USA, 2007
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Futureshorts, May Program, Columbia, 2007
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ReAnimacja Festival, Lodz, Poland, 2007
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Futureshorts, March Program, London, UK, 2007
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NYCR 2006 International Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey and New York, USA, 2006
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NY Turkish Film Festival, New York, USA, 2006
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Mestre Film Fest - Ninth Edition, Venice, Italy, 2006
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Terminal 00, Balkan Art Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2006
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International Short Film Festival, Detmold, Germany, 2006
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Planet Ant Film Festival &Video Festival, Detroit, USA, 2006
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ONEDOTZERO 10, London, UK, 2006
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San Francisco Flashforward Film Festival, San Francisco, USA, 2005
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If Istanbul Independent Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2005
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Ottawa Animation Festival, Ottawa, Canada, 2005
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Wroclaw Short Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland, 2005
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The Bitfilm Festival, Hamburg, Germany, 2007 – Barcelona, Spain, 2007
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Mestre Film Fest - Ninth Edition, Venice, Italy, 2006
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Streaming Festival, Netherlands, 2006
FILMOGRAPHY (Animated Shorts)
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Müzeyyen, 2018
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Seba, 2017
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Müslüm, 2017
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Zeki, 2015
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Facebook Covers Animated, 2014
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Prime Minister Let Go, 2014
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The Hrant Dink Case, 2012
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I am scared of nuclear, 2012
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Koff Loves Project, 2011
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Off the Phone, 2010
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Wave Theory, 2009
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Little Red Riding Hood, 2008
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2 Hit Combo, 2008
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Mobilization Exercises, 2007
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Lutrilisona, 2006
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Last Train Ride, 2005
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Noci, 2004