The Istanbul International Arts and Culture Festival, co-founded by curator Demet Müftüoğlu-Eşeli and filmmaker Alphan Eşeli, returns for its 15th edition with the theme “What Is Really Real?” Over three days in October, the festival brings together creative minds from film, technology, photography, literature, and visual art for panels, screenings, workshops, and exhibitions. In an interview with Cultured, the founders and artist José Parlá discuss the urgency of questioning authenticity in a digitally mediated world, touching on memory, dreams, and the blurred line between the artificial and the real.
This year’s theme reflects a pressing cultural conversation about truth and perception in the age of AI and digital manipulation. By framing the festival as a “living laboratory” that transforms Istanbul into an open, interdisciplinary space, the organizers emphasize the role of art in fostering critical dialogue and reconnecting audiences with wonder. The interview matters because it positions the festival as a vital platform for exploring how artists and filmmakers navigate the shifting boundaries of reality—a concern that resonates across the contemporary art world and beyond.