Biography
Sibel Guvenc is an award-winning Turkish-Canadian director, writer, and producer based in Toronto, leading Kybele Films. Throughout her career, Sibel has garnered over thirty film awards and nominations at international film festivals, including the prestigious 2019 Humanitarian Award Honourable Mention and the 2024 Most Innovative Film Production Businesswoman Award from Acquisition International Magazine.
Her notable achievements include LOYA's selection for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Impact Producers Lab, where it was recognized among ten fiction feature projects worldwide. The project also received a Second Rounder in Drama at the Austin Film Festival Script Competition in October 2024. LOYA secured Telefilm production funding in 2023, following earlier development funding and participation in the 2021 JETS co-production initiative at Berlinale. Additionally, it was selected for the Whistler Film Festival Producers Lab, WFF Power Pitch, and Netflix Canadian Pitch Day, standing out among 10,000 applications.
In 2024, Kybele Films secured Bell Slate funding for two series projects, reflecting Sibel's commitment to innovative storytelling and the company's expansion into series production. Sibel was a participant of the 2022 Banff Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media and 2023 Netflix Diversity of Voices at the Banff World Media Festival. She was a part of Telefilm Producers without Borders 2016 Berlinale Coproduction Market, and CMPA Telefilm Producer Trainee Program.
Sibel's films often explore themes of social justice, women empowerment, and environmental issues. Her feature film project "Eyes of Dreams" earned recognition at the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition and the Female Eye Film Festival Live Pitch, securing Ontario Creates Development Funding in 2024.
Sibel's short film, End of the Rope (2020), was officially selected to screen at one of the most prestigious fantasy film festivals in the world, the 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, the U.S. among others. Sibel's earlier short films fared just as well on the festival circuit: Hungarian Salami (2007) was nominated for Best Comedy at the Yorkton Golden Sheaf Awards and was considered for Canada's Top Ten Shorts by the TIFF Group. Her acclaimed film, In the Penal Colony (2006), based on Franz Kafka's short story, received awards at festivals from New York to Kolkata, was presented alongside Orson Welles' The Trial, and was included as part of a trilogy in Teatro Municipal da Guarda together with Philip Glass's opera based on the same story. Sibel's films have been sold for broadcast and have aired on Shot TV, Bravo!Canada, CBC, CTV, Deutsche Welle, and Ragusani nel Mondo.
Sibel has also been personally recognized for her work with awards such as the W. Lawrence Heisey Graduate Award and the Miron Deca Memorial Award, which honour outstanding ability and achievement in creative work. As a part-time professor in the BFA in Film and TV Program at Sheridan College, she teaches thesis film production and advanced directing, underscoring her dedication to fostering the next generation of filmmakers. Sibel holds an MFA in Film from York University and an Honours BFA in Integrated Media and Film from OCAD University. She is also a TIFF Filmmakers Lab and WIDC Director Alumna (Women In the Director's Chair).
