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The fifth Gobeklitepe International Film Festival wrapped up in Sanliurfa, southeastern Türkiye, with Turkish actors Meltem Cumbul and Menderes Samancilar receiving honorary awards, while filmmakers from South Korea, Spain and Iran picked up prizes in the international competition.
The festival, organized by the Gobeklitepe Culture and Arts Association with support from Sanliurfa Metropolitan Municipality, held its closing ceremony at the Vali Kemalettin Gazezoglu Culture and Arts Center, a historic venue locally known as Reji Church.
South Korean filmmaker Hae Park took home the Best Film award for "Broken Davn," while Spain's Jesus Cardiel won Best Director for "Inmaculada."
Iranian filmmaker Bahador Zamani secured the Best Screenplay award for "DNA," rounding out the international competition winners.
At the national competition, director Miray Kuyumcu's "326" took home the Best Film award, while Cemal Isnas was named Best Director for "Hevraz" and Turgut Kanal received Best Screenplay for "Mumeyyiz."
The festival also recognized archaeology-themed filmmaking, presenting the Klaus Schmidt Documentary Award to Spanish director Pradas Vitaller for "Discovering Pompei and Heculaneum."
Turkish actors Meltem Cumbul and Menderes Samancilar were presented with the festival's honorary awards during a ceremony attended by fellow actors Erkan Can and Guven Kirac, musician Mazlum Cimen and filmmaker Eylem Kaftan.
Speaking at the event, Sanliurfa Deputy Mayor Ahmet Aksoy welcomed the growing number of international cultural and social events taking place in the city.
Aksoy emphasized cinema's ability to bring complex subjects to wider audiences in a short time, highlighting the impact of films in communicating stories that might otherwise take hours to explain.
Festival Director Mustafa Deniz Dogan thanked participating filmmakers, guests and supporters, adding that organizers aimed to bring together a larger audience and more participants for next year's edition.
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