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Muapbet

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Student Documentaries from Türkiye

Muapbet

Senad K. Sipahioğlu, Yiğit Şafak

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Türkiye

A cultural documentary depicting a ritual tradition in the village of Bengiler. Social issues experienced in the village throughout the year are noted. These notes are artistically processed through the annual "Camel Game" ritual, allowing the community to confront itself. A striking example of the power of art to shape society.

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

16:00

Fransız Kültür Merkezi

Radio, My Love (With the Director in Attendance)

Documentaries from Türkiye

Radio, My Love (With the Director in Attendance)

Nazan Haydari, Özden Cankaya, Cem Hakverdi

Radio, My Love is an investigative documentary that frames radio broadcasting as an arena of struggle. The film revolves around the experiences of women who entered the profession in the 1970s by taking exams to join TRT, first established as an autonomous broadcasting institution. The documentary is based on the oral history project titled “Women Radio Broadcasters in the History of Turkey. It weaves together archival recordings with contemporary interviews, bringing voices from different eras together to reveal how these broadcasters shaped both the sound of radio and the cultural landscape of Turkey during a pivotal period.
Alley

Documentaries from Türkiye

Alley

Defne Kırmızı

The camera lingers, tracing a quiet alley where people go in and out of frame — glimpsed, reflected, and lost. A game unfolds in this stage, where shifting perspectives turn passersby into unwitting performers. Elsewhere, landscapes are slipping away and rebuilt on a cyclical pattern. A brief syncopation in a daily routine, a fleeting interplay of a place and bodies in motion.
Chanting of the Dunes

International Feature Film Competition

Chanting of the Dunes

Mokhless Al-Hariri

Chanting of the Dunes has so far won over 40 awards and 20 nominations! The film takes viewers on a dazzling journey through multiple countries and during momentous world events that extend from the Levant in the 1920s to the U.S. and China in the 1990s. Chanting of the Dunes recounts the life of Wahbi Al-Hariri-Rifai who was an accomplished international artist, architect, archeologist, and author. It is told through the mixed perspective of his wife, Widad Marachi, who married him at the age of 15. The fascinating storyline is full of unexpected turns and is accompanied by a superb award-winning soundtrack. The film is beautifully illustrated through hundreds of meticulously restored black/white and color archival photographs and original footage. According to festival managers, the film exceeds all expectations and represents a new cinematographic genre between narrative feature and documentary. Many have called it “extraordinary, moving, mesmerizing, full of messages...”
Under my Mother's Roof

Best International Experimental Documentary Film

Under my Mother's Roof

Christian Abi Abboud

A film where fiction and reality collide; Richard and Kim decide to cowrite with the filmmaker, pieces of their future lives together. “Under my mother’s roof” is a portrait of a man who is facing his biggest fear; the diagnoses of his love with autism. A journey which will lead him back to his childhood biggest trauma, the loss of his mother.
Yazbek: A Portrait

International Short Film Competition

Yazbek: A Portrait

Frederick Shelbourne, Lucy Andia

Yazbek: A Portrait recounts a Sergio's life, leading up to the moment he uncovers a box of his late father’s lost negatives. As he develops the photographs, Sergio reconnects with his father in ways he never expected, discovering new facets about the man and his legacy. Sergio reflects on how his father taught him not only the secrets of photography but also of life itself, shaping his understanding of the world through the lens. This film explores themes of memory, family, and the profound connection between art and life. ... 'Yazbek: A Portrait' narra la vida de Sergio, hasta el momento en que descubre una caja con los negativos perdidos de su difunto padre. Mientras revela las fotografías, Sergio se reconecta con su padre de maneras que nunca imaginó, descubriendo nuevas facetas sobre el hombre y su legado. Sergio reflexiona sobre cómo su padre le enseñó no solo los secretos de la fotografía, sino también de la vida misma, moldeando su comprensión del mundo a través del lente. Esta película explora temas como la memoria, la familia y la profunda conexión entre el arte y la vida.
Bellekvari: KuirFest’in Sözlü Tarihi

Special Film Screenings

Bellekvari: KuirFest’in Sözlü Tarihi

Asya Leman, Çağla Sumru

Ankara KuirFest transforms its 14-year history of resistance and solidarity into a queer memory space through its founders, volunteers, and artists. Despite increasing bans, the festival's continued existence as a form of cultural resistance lies at the heart of the documentary. The film makes visible both the personal and collective dimensions of queer existence by declaring, ‘We are here, we remember, we resist.’ Memory-like; a queer memory laboratory, a solidarity manifesto, and a living archive built with hope in defiance of every ban.
CAHİDE SONKU "Türkiye's First Female Producer and Director"

Student Documentaries from Türkiye

CAHİDE SONKU "Türkiye's First Female Producer and Director"

Nurullah Güzel

Our film aims to introduce the life of Cahide Sonku to students of the Radio, Television, and Cinema department. In this context, it focuses on examining the historical development of Turkish cinema to better understand Cahide Sonku and to inspire future generations through her story. Cahide Sonku’s cinema career is important not only because of her success in the arts but also because it reveals the role of women and gender dynamics in Turkish cinema and the art world in general. Her life and contributions help us develop a deeper understanding of women’s presence in the film industry. As a result, this documentary will add meaningful value to the literature by focusing on Cahide Sonku’s unique contributions to cinema.
Forty Days Road

International Short Film Competition

Forty Days Road

Ali Ziani

In Forty Days Road, two colleagues (Ali and Ian) set out on a captivating journey across Egypt to trace the long route of camels traveling from Sudan to a market near Cairo. Along the way, they uncover the tough conditions of transport and join the camels on a 24-hour journey from the Sudanese border to one of the biggest Egyptian camel market near Cairo.
Longarms

Student Documentaries from Türkiye

Longarms

Cemal Karaaslan

Dilara is an art student striving to become a successful painter despite the challenges in her life and dreams of studying abroad. Cemal, a film student, wants to document her journey, knowing that their last days together could come at any moment. However, things do not go as planned. They try to overcome the difficulties of pursuing art and creating something meaningful in a small town with the support of their friends. Dilara, hayatındaki zorluklara rağmen başarılı bir ressam olmaya çalışan ve yurt dışında eğitim almak isteyen bir resim öğrencisidir. Sinema öğrencisi Cemal, arkadaşı Dilara'yla geçireceği son günlerin her an gelebileceğini düşünerek onun belgeselini çekmek ister fakat işler planladıkları gibi gitmez. Küçük bir şehirde sanatla uğraşmanın ve bir şeyler üretmenin güçlüğünü arkadaşlarının desteği ile aşmaya çalışırlar.
Fekry's Thoughts

International Short Film Competition

Fekry's Thoughts

Essam Hayder

A contemporary portrait follows the life of an Alexandrian Framemaker born in the 1930s. Through his personal story, the film explores the profound changes in Egypt over the past 80 years, capturing society's transformation through a dedicated craftsman's eyes.
Master of Time

Documentaries from Türkiye

Master of Time

Muhittin Yüceli

When Adana's iconic Great Clock Tower broke down in 2014, it was brought back to life by the expertise of Murat Yurtbulmuş. Having been involved in clockmaking since childhood and honing his skills in Germany, Yurtbulmuş shares the challenges of clock repair, his personal memories, and the mysteries of clocks in this documentary. This work not only captures a repair process but also reveals the life story of a passionate craftsman.
Los Pasaroz Sefaradis (Yönetmenlerin Katılımıyla)

Special Film Screenings

Los Pasaroz Sefaradis (Yönetmenlerin Katılımıyla)

Rose Modiano, Alberto Modiano

The Jews who arrived in Ottoman lands 530 years ago brought many cultures with them. Naturally, this included their language. Over time, this language blended with other cultures to form a new, unique language called “Judeo Espagnol”. Although it is in danger of being forgotten, the older generation continues to preserve it in areas where they live together, primarily in Izmir and Istanbul. The documentary is about the Los Pasharos Sefaradis Group, Kula 930, and many other Jewish musicals that have emerged over more than 30 years, the formation of the group of four people, and the concerts they have given.
I Just Keep Dancing

International Feature Film Competition

I Just Keep Dancing

Natasha Fefelova, Galina Goldfeld

An American, a Japanese, a Canadian, a Frenchman and a Brazilian work as ballet dancers in very different Russian cities. The world around them collapses for reasons beyond their control, and the characters have to make the most difficult choice in their lives. A choice on which not only their career, but also their destiny depends.
Not My Film

International Short Film Competition

Not My Film

Astra Zoldnere

What happens if older people challenge stereotypes in films about aging? Six seniors re-perform scenes of poor health, sexual invisibility, and gendered stereotypes of the wise old man and the bad witch. Toward the end of the film, the participants rebel against these cinematic images, proving that older age can be associated with love, sexuality, and self-revelation.
Mukunan Aprendiz de Pajé

International Short Film Competition

Mukunan Aprendiz de Pajé

Rodrigo Sena Sena Sena

Mukunã prepares to become the Shaman of the Potiguara Katu village in Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), older than us, the power plants become the teacher teaching environmental care.
Foto Akgün

Student Documentaries from Türkiye

Foto Akgün

Fidan Çaça

A tribute to Mehmet Akgün, a camera repairman in Konya who has been restoring memories for nearly 50 years. Foto Akgün tells the inspiring story of resilience, craftsmanship, and passion—despite physical limitations.
Bir Ömür Deniz

Özel Film Gösterimleri

Bir Ömür Deniz

Ahmet Özkan, Veyis Polat

This film views the sea not as a landscape, but as a living space. Here, the sea is not a romantic backdrop; it is a life woven with sweat, patience and repetition. We approach Mavişehir Fishermen's Shelter not as a place, but as a memory. This harbour, whose location has changed with the filling of the shores, bears the traces of over a century of labour. Against concrete, time and transformation, we defend the continuity of the relationship established with the sea. This manifesto aims to make the great stories of small boats visible. The labour of fishermen who set sail in boats less than seven metres long is a form of living knowledge that is in danger of being forgotten in the shadow of industrial production. We stand against the loss of this knowledge. Repeating the mending of nets, the threading of needles, the setting out to sea before dawn... Because repetition here is not ordinary; it is resistance. This order, re-established every day, is an expression of the ancient covenant between man and the sea. While telling the story of the fishermen, this film focuses on silence, modesty, and the power of collective production. It sees accepting what the sea provides as a virtue. We take on the responsibility of photography, the camera, and witnessing. We advocate not just looking, but seeing; not just recording, but understanding. A Lifetime at Sea is not an elegy for the past; it is a mark left for the future. As long as this way of life built with the sea continues, cultural memory will also continue to live on. Some lives are not written on land, but in the wake of the waves.
Mahalleme Dokunma (With the Director in Attendance)

Belgesel Fotoğraf Gösterimleri

Mahalleme Dokunma (With the Director in Attendance)

Emine Kart

Let me tell you a bit about the neighbourhood we didn't want to touch. 100th Year, Workers' Blocks Neighbourhood. Built for workers, squatters have been living there for years. Thousands of buildings have sprung up around it, glass towers, shopping centres, mosque projects offering donation opportunities on credit card instalments, demolitions, constructions, bars and barricades. We didn't want this; we deserved better. The year was 2013... The whole country was united around three or five trees. The wind from those trees enveloped a student and retired neighbourhood in Ankara. Do you know what we wanted? We didn't want them to build that road separating the school from the neighbourhood. We didn't want them to cut down the forest that was home to all kinds of trees and animals. We wanted to throw in your faces every day the image of the workers and women your system killed, and those you slaughtered in the name of labour, peace and democracy, erasing them the very next day. We wanted a tree planted, a field we cultivated together, a garden where we could come together and tend to the crops. We wanted a patch of land open to labour and sustenance, with no lock on its gate.
Evara

Student Documentaries from Türkiye

Evara

Cansu Carlak

Evara, which means gift of God, deals with the cycle journey of our character who finds herself in the middle of the climate change crisis in the conflict between city and nature. Based on the philosophy of second nature and social ecology, Evara is a critique consisting of questioning, resistance, observation and feelings and is reflected through performance art.
Back to the Land

Documentaries from Türkiye

Back to the Land

Kerem Kurtuluş

Tevfik, who moved to New York with his family at the age of 2, relocated to his grandfather's home in Rize, where his father was born, at the age of 35 and started a new life there. Tevfik has been living in Rize for 19 years and is now the father of two children, working in agriculture. He sustains his life by producing tea and kiwi.
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