FoundingDepartment of Communication and Design (COMD) founded within Bilkent University’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA).

First cohort: 65 students admitted (34 in prep school, 31 entering directly). Founding instructors: Mahmut Mutman, Fatoş Aldıoğlu, Andreas Treske, and Mine Üçok, later joined by John Groch and Jan Hofheinz. Administrative assistant: Sabire Özyalçın.

Founded alongside a sister Graphic Design department within a Fine Arts faculty, oriented from the outset toward media theory and digital practice rather than conventional film-school training.

LeadershipMahmut Mutman, founding chair (1998–2005).

FacilitiesConstruction begins on the department’s main media production studio, FFB 08 (later BITS Studio).

FestivalPASO (Student Film and Digital Media Festival) conceived Turkey’s first non-competitive student film festival. Conceived by COMD students alongside faculty Andreas Treske and Mahmut Mutman, with support from FADA Dean Bülent Özgüç.

FestivalPASO 01 inaugural edition, November 3–5, Ankara German Cultural Center (Goethe-Institut).

Publication“Mimarlık ve Yaşam I” Documentary Series: COMD collaborates on the TV documentary series for NTV and Tepe İnşaat.

FestivalPASO 02 (October 2001): organized at Bilkent University in partnership with the Goethe-Institut, British Council, University of Leeds, Tel Aviv University, and Zelig Film School (Bolzano, Italy).

RecognitionAltin Portakal Short Film Competition (Antalya): three COMD student short films selected for international screenings, placing among the final 25 out of over 120 national applications.

RecognitionTRT 2 Television Broadcast “Ilk Kare” (December 8): three COMD student films broadcast nationwide.

InternationalZKM Exhibition at COMD: “Media Art from Germany” (May 3–4), organized in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut.

Publication“Mimarlık ve Yaşam II” 14-episode TV documentary series directed for Tepe İnşaat (June 2000–March 2001).

FestivalPASO 02 Video Production Workshop: collaborative production connecting Bilkent COMD students with guest students from the Northern Film School in Leeds, UK.

PublicationInteractive CD-ROM capstone project: COMD students produce Turks in Space.

FestivalPASO 03 (March 2003): International Video Production Workshop organized by Andreas Treske, bringing together participants from Georgia and Ankara.

RecognitionInternational New York Film and Video Festival: Yaman Zoral’s short film 3:39 selected and screened in Los Angeles, September 25.

PublicationCOMD students produce and publish online Asansor the department’s first original web series.

RecognitionFestival of Students’ Performances and Film (Tbilisi State University): Esef Isik wins Best Screenplay for Comic Book; Berk Tokay receives Special Nomination for Best Original Idea for Heart Stopping.

RecognitionTRT selects and broadcasts three COMD student short films: Güvercinlerin Dansı, Karsilasmalar, and Material Boy.

FestivalPASO 04 (April/May 2004).

LeadershipAndreas Treske, chair (2005–2010).

FacilitiesVideo labs from the Department of Graphic Design and COMD merged; Özcan Akar joins as lab technician.

RecognitionArmagan Uslu’s short film Köfles wins Best Screenplay at Marmara University’s 7th Short Film Competition and Special Jury Prize at Selçuk University / Konya Short Film Festival; invited to the 5th International Audiovisual Festival in Baku.

FestivalPASO 05 (April 19–23).

FacilitiesTÜBİTAK-BU Project (2006–2008): enables purchase of new multimedia equipment and setup of an interactive media research lab.

RecognitionRhode Island School of Design (RISD) Exchange Milestone: for the first time in years, RISD accepted a Bilkent student from COMD for study exchange.

International“Video Crossing” Project (Detmold Short Film Festival, Germany, Sept–Oct 2006): German-Turkish collaboration led by COMD. 16 Turkish students participated in a 7-day film production workshop.

FestivalPASO 06 (April 24–30).

RecognitionCOMD graduate İpek Atik awarded both a Fulbright Scholarship and an NYU Scholarship for her M.A. at New York University.

RecognitionAndreas Treske awarded a CILECT Corresponding Membership.

InternationalLighthouse Ankara Cooperation (2007–2008): tri-national German-French-Polish creative project bringing European and Turkish artists to Ankara.

InternationalDocuTraveler Documentary Workshop (Kars, November 9–15): intensive one-week workshop bringing together film students from Turkey and Georgia.

InternationaliStoryBoxWeek with Florian Thalhofer: German interactive-documentary pioneer introduces his non-linear storytelling method to COMD students.

FestivalPASO 07.

InternationalVideo Vortex 3 Conference: COMD organizes and hosts the 3rd International Video Vortex Conference at Bilkent, co-sponsored by the US Embassy, Embassy of the Netherlands, Goethe-Institut, and Bilkent University.

FestivalPASO 08 (April 24–27): included master classes, seminars, and an international collaborative workshop.

RecognitionH. Mert Erverdi wins Special Award for Cinematography at the 5th Yıldız Short Film Festival (Istanbul) for Yaşlı Adam Kara Kuş.

GrantEU CSD Project “Towards a Deeper Understanding of Rural Europe” (2008–2009): 320,000 Euro grant in partnership with Leiden University, Marc Bloch University Strasbourg II, Hacettepe University, and NIHA.

FestivalPASO 09.

International“Shared Anthropology Today” (May 25–28): four-day event featuring visual anthropologist David MacDougall (Australian National University) and Bernard Surugue.

PublicationMehmet Siray publishes Performance and Performativity (Peter Lang).

RecognitionGraduate placements: Serin İnan to MFA at Parsons (New York); Giray Selçuk to MA at University of Applied Sciences Bremen; Mert Erverdi to MA at Bilgi University; Serdar Gezer to MA at Kadir Has University.

LeadershipAhmet Gürata, chair (2010–2018).

InternationalHarun Farocki Visit (March 19): German avant-garde filmmaker and media theorist leads workshop “Thinking with Images” and film screening session. Video installations shown at Goethe-Institut Ankara and Çağdaş Sanatlar Merkezi, curated by Andreas Treske and Ege Berensel. Exhibition extended due to high turnout. Farocki’s concept of “operational images” remains a staple in the department’s graduate syllabi.

InternationalAmnon Buchbinder Visit (April 27–28): director and chair of film at York University, Canada.

FestivalOne-Minute Lunch Film Competition launched; run annually since.

FestivalATMM (Audio Technologies for Music and Media) first edition at Bilkent; hosted again in 2013.

FacilitiesNew Media Open Lab launched.

InternationalLeonard Retel Helmrich Masterclass (March): Dutch-Indonesian documentary filmmaker leads workshop on “Single-Shot Cinema” during the 24th Ankara International Film Festival.

PublicationColleen Kennedy-Karpat publishes Rogues, Romance, and Exoticism in French Cinema of the 1930s (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press).

RecognitionQS World University Rankings recognizes COMD among top departments worldwide in applied media (#153).

PublicationS. Atakan-Duman and Emel Özdora publish Insights from Turkey’s Banking Sector (Lambert Academic Publishing).

FestivalFirst BMFI (Bilkent Media Future Initiative) held September 16–19.

PublicationAndreas Treske publishes Video Theory: Online Video Aesthetics or The Afterlife of Video (transcript Verlag / Columbia University Press); reprinted 2017 with a Russian translation.

International“De/Re-constructing Archaeology & Film” workshop with Martin Thau.

PublicationUfuk Önen publishes Ses Kayıt ve Müzik Teknolojileri, Synthesizer Teknolojileri ve Programlama, and On Mixing.

RecognitionFeature documentary Black, Not Gray: Ankara Rocks! produced in COMD studios (2016–2018).

FacilitiesMedia Archaeology Lab officially launched (October 2–6), marked by the five-day international symposium “Play/Pause, FF/Rewind.” Keynote speakers: Wolfgang Ernst, Annie van den Oever, and Jussi Parikka.

FacilitiesMulti-camera broadcast control room: first documented live broadcast, December 29 Bilkent Symphony Orchestra New Year’s concert.

InternationalAdvanced Broadcast Studio: multi-camera production workshop hosted by stage director Uli Peschke (February 13).

InternationalScreening and Talk: Noise (2012) with Dan and Noit Geva (November 8).

LeadershipAndreas Treske, chair (2018–present). Funda Senova (Tunalı) and Jülide Aksiyote Görür begin serving as Vice-Chairs.

FestivalCOMD 20th Anniversary gala celebration (December 15), FFB 006.

InternationalCinematography Workshop with Joe Foley (March 30).

InternationalTalk by Geert Lovink: “From Distraction to Exodus: The Facebook Saga” (April 24).

InternationalSpecial Screening: My Year with Helen (May 14) film and talk with former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and director Gaylene Preston, as part of the 21st Flying Broom Women’s Film Festival.

RecognitionCOMD becomes an accredited full member of CILECT at the Moscow Congress.

RecognitionCOMD joins ECREA (June 29).

International“POWER: Empowerment of Youth on Renewable Energies” Erasmus+ project with iserundschmidt and TU Wien.

International“The Gathering: A Mysterious Journey of Humankind” Göbeklitepe exhibition at CerModern.

PublicationMüge Mengü Hale publishes Ay Işığını Arayan Denizkaplumbağaları: Çıtırcık ile Pıtırcık.

PublicationLutz Peschke publishes Infografiken: Visualität und Wissensaneignung in der mediatisierten Welt (Springer VS).

FestivalPASO XX “Together We Stream!” 20th-anniversary 24-hour livestream edition (December 12–13) in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Ankara.

RecognitionCOMD alumna Nisan Dag (’08) wins Best Director at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival for When I’m Done Dying / Bir Nefes Daha.

InternationalCOMD Talks: Gerda Cammaer, “The Creative Potential of Microcinema and Mobile Filmmaking” (November 27, via Zoom).

RecognitionNisan Dag’s When I’m Done Dying becomes most award-winning title at the 28th Adana Altin Koza Film Festival. Dag goes on to direct Netflix series Midnight at the Pera Palace.

RecognitionSakıp Sabancı International Research Award: Asst. Prof. Dr. Aysenur Dal (COMD) and Asst. Prof. Dr. Efe Tokdemir (IR) win the Essay Award for their joint paper on social dynamics in the fight against COVID-19.

InternationalCOMD hosts PandeVITA EU-project launch meeting.

FacilitiesBilkent COMD launches its first podcast, “You Made Me Watch That?!” (announced September 26), co-hosted by Colleen Kennedy-Karpat and Wickham Flannagan.

RecognitionTÜBİTAK Horizon 2020 Award (March 21): Asst. Prof. Dr. Lutz Peschke receives award at the Horizon Europe Launch Event in Istanbul, in recognition of coordinating the international PandeVITA research project.

RecognitionFADA (including COMD) joins ELIA (December 6).

PublicationColleen Kennedy-Karpat co-edits The Sustainable Legacy of Agnès Varda (Bloomsbury).

FacilitiesDolby Atmos Studio and Dolby Vision Suite newly constructed. Inaugural public event “Experiencing Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos” (November 17–18) welcomes 39 artists, composers, sound designers, and mix engineers, with support from Dolby and Apple Music.

RecognitionAsst. Prof. Dr. Aysenur Dal receives the BAGEP Young Scientist Award from the Science Academy.

RecognitionApartman Boşluğu / Tenement (dir. Can Baran) premieres at the 30th Adana Altin Koza International Film Festival alongside Aksam Üstü Rüyası (dir. Mustafa Mert Yağcı). Apartman Boşluğu later released on MUBI.

PeopleSabire Özyalçın, the department’s founding administrative assistant, retires. Çiğdem Karabağ joins as administrative assistant. Funda Senova (Tunalı), Vice-Chair since 2018, passes away forever in the department’s heart.

International“Sounding Off The Next Generation of Women in Sound” Workshop (May 6–7): two-day workshop supported by the US Embassy in Turkey, 15 participants selected from over 250 applicants.

FestivalCOMD joins Cannes Classics first participation in 2024.

InternationalGuest Lecture: Oliver Grau, “21st Century Digital Art and Its Challenges for Our Memory Institutions” (February 21).

InternationalSeminar: Antony Cairns (November 14): photographer examines the urban landscape through experimental techniques blending analog and digital processes.

FestivalPASO XXV International Reach: submissions from Türkiye, China, Morocco, and Albania, confirming PASO’s global scale a quarter-century in.

PublicationAndreas Treske publishes Heaven’s Delight: On the Pleasures of Audiovisual Practices (Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam).

ExhibitionResidue / İz group exhibition by COMD students with Melih Aydınat and Andreas Treske at CerModern’s Flow Gallery, opened by EU Ambassador-Designate Aivo Orav as part of Europe Day (May 6–17).

FestivalCOMD students attend the Cannes Film Festival screenings, industry sessions, and meetings with filmmakers and programmers.

FestivalFlying Broom International Women’s Film Festival “Universities Meeting” (April 22): 29th Uçan Süpürge partners with COMD, featuring a “Women in Cinema” panel with Alin Tasciyan, Ayse Nil Samlıoğlu, and Damla Sönmez.