
Project Links
- Director Biography – Dilara Senbilgin

Dilara Senbilgin was born in Manisa, Turkey, and graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University with a double major in Media & Communication and Psychology. Her thesis project WINNING BACK SYRIA’S CHILDREN was a short documentary that focused on the education conditions of refugee Syrian children who live in Istanbul and their relationship with their teachers. After her graduation in Istanbul, she moved to Los Angeles and attended a two-year Directing program at UCLA. During this time, she wrote, directed, and edited numerous projects including her thesis project KEPT (2018), a narrative short film that explored the themes of feminism, rape, and abortion. KEPT has been shown in over 10 film festivals and won awards such as Best Screenplay, Women Filmmakers, and Best Supporting Actress. Most recently, Dilara worked as an Associate Producer on Bryan Fogel’s political documentary THE DISSIDENT, which tackles the subject of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The film had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.