About Alchemic Film
Alchemic Film is a Dutch film company, founded in 2017 by Turkish-Dutch Ibrahim (Ibo) Karatay and American-Dutch Paul Oscar Kanter. We admire artistically independent films in the tradition of auteur cinema. Consequently, we cherish the rich past of international cinema and try to understand the discourses of contemporary cinema both in its aesthetics and political economics. We believe that this ongoing endeavour is part of our effort to understand the challenges of our time and its impact on us as artists, as well as on our cinema. This attitude and conversation shape the focus of our company. Alchemic Film’s first productions have been selected for international festivals, including Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Cannes Cinéfondation, Sarajevo Film Festival and International Film Fesitval Rotterdam. We produce short, mid-length and feature-length fiction and documentaries. We are young and motivated producers and writer/directors with tremendous interest and passion for nature, life, humankind, literature and art.
Our Team
İbrahim Karatay's Biography
Ibrahim (aka Ibo) Karatay is a Dutch-Turkish director, scriptwriter and producer. Ibo was born in 1979 in Istanbul, Turkey. When he was 14 years old his parents have suddenly decided to establish the family in The Netherlands to reunite with his immigrant worker father. After purchasing his bachelor’s degree in Public Administration in the city of The Hague he worked as project manger for several years. He then started the pre-master Film and Television Studies at The Utrecht University focusing mainly on film narratology and dramaturgy. During his study he also started working on filmsets to gain set experience. From February 2015 until December 2020 he has worked as a Development Executive and Producer for Amsterdam based Rinkel Film. Also, Ibo is regularly being asked as freelance script coach to guide emerging filmmakers.
Shadow of Violence is his debut as a writer/director and it is the first part of a trilogy. Shadow of Violence had its world premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam. It has been selected amongst others for Golden Calf competition and best debut film competition at he Netherlands Film Festival in 2020. The film won best film price at Roots Film Festival.
Ibrahim has co-produced Arun Karthick’s second feature Nasir at Rinkel Film. The film had its world premiere in the Tiger Awards competition of IFFR in 2020 and won NetPac award. It has also been selected for both New Directors New Films and Mumbai Film Festival (2020). Ibrahim is the Executive Producer for Ozcan Alper’s new film Black Night, starring BERKAY ATEŞ (Frenzy), TANER BİRSEL (Once Upon a time in Anatolia) and SİBEL KEKİLLİ (Gegen die Wand). At the moment he is, along with Janneke Pol and Lukas de Kort working on a feature documentary in the shadow of the recent escalations of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Paul Oscar Kanter's Biography
Paul Oscar Kanter (1990) is a Dutch/American writer/director and producer.
He is currently an MFA candidate at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program.
After getting his Master’s Degree in Film Studies at Utrecht University, he founded Dutch production company Alchemic Film with Ibo Karatay.
As producer, he produced the short films Lejla, which premiered at the Cannes Cinéfondation 2017, and Regained Memory, which premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2018.
He co-wrote and produced Shadow of Violence, which premiered at the 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam.
His short film The Drowned Man is currently in post-production.
İbrahim Karatay's Biography
Ibrahim (aka Ibo) Karatay is a Dutch-Turkish director, scriptwriter and producer. Ibo was born in 1979 in Istanbul, Turkey. When he was 14 years old his parents have suddenly decided to establish the family in The Netherlands to reunite with his immigrant worker father. After purchasing his bachelor’s degree in Public Administration in the city of The Hague he worked as project manger for several years. He then started the pre-master Film and Television Studies at The Utrecht University focusing mainly on film narratology and dramaturgy. During his study he also started working on filmsets to gain set experience. Since February 2015 he works as a freelance Development Executive and Producer for Amsterdam based Rinkel Film. Also, Ibo is regularly being asked as freelance script coach to guide emerging filmmakers.
Further more ibo is the co-founder of Alchemic Film. Alchemic Film's first productions have been selected for Cannes, Karlovy Vary and International Film Festival Rotterdam. Shadow of Violence is his debut as a director/writer and it is the first part of a trilogy. Shadow of Violence had its world premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam. It has been selected amongst others for Golden Calf competition and best debut film competition at he Netherlands Film Festival in 2020. The film won best film price at Roots Film Festival.
Ibrahim has co-produced Arun Karthick’s second feature Nasir. The film had its world premiere in the Tiger Awards competition of IFFR in 2020 and won NetPac award. It has also been selected for both New Directors New Films and Mumbai Film Festival (2020). Ibrahim is the Executive Producer for Ozcan Alper’s new crime thriller Black Night, starring BERKAY ATEŞ (Frenzy), TANER BİRSEL (Once Upon a time in Anatolia) and SİBEL KEKİLLİ (Gegen die Wand). At the moment he is, along with Janneke Pol and Lukas de Kort working on a mid-length documentary in the shadow of the recent escalations of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Paul Oscar Kanter's Biography
Paul Oscar Kanter (1990) is a Dutch/American writer/director and producer.
He is currently an MFA candidate at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program.
After getting his Master’s Degree in Film Studies at Utrecht University, he founded Dutch production company Alchemic Film with Ibo Karatay.
As producer, he produced the short films Lejla, which premiered at the Cannes Cinéfondation 2017, and Regained Memory, which premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2018.
He co-wrote and produced Shadow of Violence, which premiered at the 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam.
His short film The Drowned Man is currently in post-production.