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The sixth Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival began in Istanbul with a concert and the screening of the Kyrgyz film “Aytmatov” at Atlas 1948 Cinema. Running through Nov. 7, the festival offers free screenings at five venues across the city.
More than 150 international guests and 300 film professionals from Türkiye take part.
The program includes 56 films from 10 countries and 10 autonomous republics and communities. Thirty films compete for awards, with 10 each in the feature fiction, documentary and short film categories.
Juries of directors, actors and film professionals from Turkic countries evaluate the entries.
Non-competitive sections include Contemporary Human Landscapes, Historical Panorama, the Turquoise Documentary Strand and animation screenings.
Screenings also take place at AKM Yesilcam Cinema, Emek Cinema, Istanbul University’s Faculty of Communication and Istanbul Commerce University’s Sadabat Hall. The schedule is available at korkutatafilmfestivali.com.
The Turkic World Cinema Summit at The Marmara Grand Ballroom covers co-production opportunities and sector cooperation.
The festival also hosts its first Türkiye-Kyrgyzstan project pitching event, where filmmakers from both countries present projects to juries. Four projects will receive support.
The International Turkic World Korkut Ata Cinema Symposium takes place at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Communication
On Nov. 7, a panel on artificial intelligence in cinema and the digital transformation of ancient narratives is scheduled at Atlas 1948 Cinema.
The awards ceremony takes place at 8 p.m. on Nov. 7 at the Ataturk Cultural Center (AKM) in Taksim, on Istanbul's European side.
The feature fiction competition awards best film, director, screenplay, actress and actor. The documentary and short film competitions give first, second and third prizes.
Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Gokhan Yazgi said cinema “reflects the memory, dreams, joys and pains” of societies. He noted that 2026 marks 35 years since the Turkic republics regained independence in 1991.
TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev announced that the organization will declare 2028 “Cengiz Aytmatov Year” to mark the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth.
The festival began in Istanbul in 2021 and later took place in Bursa, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
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