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Alley

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Documentaries from Türkiye

Alley

00:05:34

Defne Kırmızı

-

Avusturya, Türkiye

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.

Thursday, January 22, 2026

11:00

Fransız Kültür Merkezi

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.
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.
Thank You Kaf Kaf (With the Director in Attendance)

Special Film Screenings

Thank You Kaf Kaf (With the Director in Attendance)

Ömer Gümüşe

Through the eyes of the Karşıyaka Sports Club announcer, we witness the club's story, its history and culture, touching on the passion of its supporters, in an unconventional account of Karşıyaka Sports Club's one-season tale.
Tight Lines (With the Director in Attendance)

Student Documentaries from Türkiye

Tight Lines (With the Director in Attendance)

Cihan Berkay Mahçup

“Tight Lines” tells the story of a woman whose life is woven with nets, beginning each day with the sea. She does not merely make a living from the sea; she speaks to it, challenges it, and endures alongside it. Fishing is often perceived as a man’s profession, yet in this documentary, the hands guiding the nets belong to a woman. Rastgele goes beyond the act of casting nets into the water, revealing a quiet yet powerful resistance that makes the unseen visible.
Sukande Kasáká | Ailing Land

Best International Short Film

Sukande Kasáká | Ailing Land

Kamikia Kisedje, Fred Rahal

Kamikia and Lewaiki, from the Khĩsêdjê people, are forced to abandon their largest village after detecting pesticide contamination that poisons their land, rivers, and food. Surrounded by monocultures of soy, they fight to protect their culture, their families, and their territory, facing an invisible enemy that threatens their very existence.
Bocuk: An Ancient Ritual

International Short Film Competition

Bocuk: An Ancient Ritual

Buğra Mert Alkayalar

"Bocuk" traces the remnants of a Balkan-Turkic belief said to date back to the Middle Ages, still alive in a remote village of Thrace. This docudrama explores the contemporary meaning of an ancient winter ritual and documents the local narratives surrounding it. Blending fear with tradition, the film invites viewers to discover the extraordinary Night of Bocuk, a practice still observed across generations in Turkey.
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.
Playing on the Road

Student Documentaries from Türkiye

Playing on the Road

Eminhan Çakır

The documentary focuses on the daily lives of young artists performing in the streets and venues of İzmir. Each artist, with their own unique style and story, meets audiences in public spaces, highlighting the importance of music in their lives. Despite bans, pressures, and hardships, these young musicians strive to sustain their art and lives, seeking support and solidarity. Their stories of resilience and creativity, intertwined with the power of music, not only inspire but also reveal the ways in which they hold on to life and nurture hope.
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.
Block E, No. 5

Documentaries from Türkiye

Block E, No. 5

Çağla Gillis

Çağla moves to Austria for university, facing the loneliness of a temporary dormitory, a liminal space that shapes her emotional journey. Meanwhile, her family in Istanbul struggles with the uncertainty and frustration of living in a rented apartment. Their home, demolished due to aggressive urban policies under the guise of earthquake risk prevention, remains incomplete for years. Through intimate yet online conversations, they share their longing for belonging, the weight of waiting, and the mundane tasks of daily life. In these cold, fractured spaces, time seems to blur, and memories echo as voices.
Le chien qui boit le thé

International Feature Film Competition

Le chien qui boit le thé

Jean-Claude Moschetti Moschetti, Arnaud Nouvel

Le chien qui boit le thé, is a film that explores Beninese Voodoo as it is lived on a daily basis. It's a rare immersion in cults and ceremonies, in traditions shaped by men for men. Populated by magical and supernatural creatures, voodoo enchants photographer Jean-Claude Moschetti, who for over 20 years has been making visible to the uninitiated a parallel world that is superimposed on reality. The face of the Dog who drinks tea, he is the one who opens doors, knows secrets and codes. Neither an ethnologist nor a researcher, he is simply on a quest for magic. In his lens: mermaids smoking by the ocean, the dead dancing, a bird-woman spreading fear... His studio is in the modest ghost convent of Affinon, his friend and Egungun dignitary. It was Egungun who initiated him into the secrets and sacred cults of the ancestors. But this year, their destinies take opposite paths: one rises to the sacred, the other is struck by a curse. Fate or destiny? Voodoo offers those who dare to step forward the chance to negotiate their path. But beware of the unwary: a vengeful pig is on the prowl, stalking evil.
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.
Halal Dreams

International Experimental Film Competition

Halal Dreams

Mohammed Mamdouh

In the sleepless lights of New York, a father's longing becomes the city's quiet heartbeat.
Free Words: A Poet from Gaza

Türkiye’den Belgeseller Seçkisi, Filistin Seçkisi

Free Words: A Poet from Gaza

Abdullah Harun İlhan

"Free Words" follows Pulitzer-winner Mosab Abu Toha, a detained poet from Gaza whose art becomes a powerful voice of resistance and hope amid oppression.
Our Home, The Theater

Türkiye’den Öğrenci Belgeselleri

Our Home, The Theater

Fatma Nur Arslan

After the devastating earthquake on February 6, 2023, which affected 11 provinces in Turkey, the Kimyonok family, whose homes were rendered uninhabitable, moved into their cinema business and set up a home in the lobby.
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.
Songs of Fraternity

Yönetmenlerin Katılımıyla

Songs of Fraternity

Çayan Demirel, Ayşe Çetinbaş

"Songs of Fraternity” is a feature-length project that tells the musical and political journey of the ‘Kardeş Türküler Project, which started within the Boğaziçi University Folklore Club in 1993… in a way a chronicle of“togetherness”, children, women, trees, rivers, a fraternity of cultures and languages that cannot be divided by borders. Not only languages, but history, culture, poetry, writers and artists meet on the stage: Hrant Dink, Neşet Ertaş, Reem Kelani, Sezen Aksu, Arto Tunçboyacıyan, Sayat Nova choir, the list goes on… So this movie brings forward for the first time the 30-year old story of Kardeş Türküler as they navigate and reflect with their music the political and social realities of the recent history of Turkey.
Enemy Number Three

International Short Film Competition

Enemy Number Three

Vladimir Sumashedov

During World War II, artist and photo montage master Alexander Zhytomyrsky uses his art to convince the enemy to end the bloodshed. Propaganda leaflets — passports to surrender — are dropped from planes in millions, aimed at soldiers on the front lines. Unlike bombs, they do not take lives, they are meant to save them. The creator of these leaflets works hard every day to see the humanity in his enemy amidst the hatred. Will he be able to preserve his talent and himself in this struggle?
Who Shot Jr.? (With the Director in Attendance)

Documentaries from Türkiye

Who Shot Jr.? (With the Director in Attendance)

Gül Abus Semerci

This documentary takes a closer look at the passionate fans of the Turkish TV series industry. It explores how fans feel so connected to the stories that they even influence actors’ lives or the script’s flow. Their passion leads to social media campaigns targeting writers and efforts to "save" favorite characters, reflecting their strong sense of belonging. Meanwhile, industry representatives’ comments on fans and the cold realities of their professional world add another striking layer. This contrast of admiration and distance paints a portrait of the series world and its fans.
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.
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