Özcan Vardar

Born in Istanbul, Özcan Vardar is based in Germany and works as a freelance film editor, collaborating with international productions in various countries, including the Netherlands He studied Mathematics and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Bogazici University. Additionally, he completed the film studies program at the same university. During his studies, he was very active in extracurricular activities on campus, such as university student clubs (Cinema Club and Music Club) and eventually the Mithat Alam Film Center. He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talent Campus (2011), a graduate of the Locarno Film Festival Summer School (2011), and a graduate of InterDoc MasterClass Serbia (2014). He earned a Master of Arts (MA) degree from Istanbul University Radio TV Cinema with a thesis on Film Editing and AI. He has instructed many workshops and taught Film Grammar and Film Editing courses at various universities. He was a regular part-time instructor at Bogazici University for nearly 10 years. He has been editing feature films and documentaries since 2007. He is a long-term collaborator of Emin Alper. He edited Alper's multi-award-winning debut film Beyond the Hill, which premiered at Berlinale in 2012 and won two awards, including the Caligari Prize. He also co-edited Alper's Burning Days, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022. He won multiple 'Best Film Editing' awards for the film, including the 'Excellent Award: Best European Editing' from the European Film Academy in 2022. He is a member of European Film Academy since then. He became a board member of the Mithat Alam Film Education Foundation (MAEV) in 2022. The foundation provides grants to film students and supports the Mithat Alam Film Center. He co-founded the Film Editors' Society of Turkey (KUDA) in 2021 and served as a board member until 2023. He became the first chairperson of the International Federation of Film Editors Associations (TEMPO) in August 2024. As of December 2024, TEMPO had 35 member organizations and represented 9200 film editors worldwide.