14th TRT International Documentary Awards held in Istanbul

By Ahmet Esad Sani

ISTANBUL (AA) - The 14th TRT International Documentary Awards, organized by Turkish national broadcaster TRT, took place in Istanbul between Dec. 14-17 with screenings of national and international documentaries and the participation of expert guests in the field.

Throughout the four-day evet, documentaries competing in various categories and special selection films were shown to audiences, contributing to enriching the documentary climate in Türkiye.

Masterclass events with directors took place and talks and workshops about the present and future of documentary making were also held.

"The Lens of Democracy" received the Best Film Award in the International Category, while "Flâneur" was chosen as the Best Film in the National Professional Category.

Speaking at the ceremony, TRT General Manager Mehmet Zahid Sobaci said the event is the largest documentary film festival in Türkiye.

"A documentary is the pursuit of overlooked, hidden or forgotten truths in the ordinary course of life. It is the most profound, detailed and meaningful portrayal of the manifestations of existence on the screen,” said Sobaci.

He pointed out that it is impossible to think independently of TRT about the history and adventure of documentaries and documentary making in Türkiye "because TRT, since its establishment, has become the school of documentary making. It has trained many great masters, pioneered the formation of a documentary-loving audience, and crowned its success in this field with an Emmy award in the news documentary category in September.”

"In 2009, TRT took two important steps in the guidance of its experiences in documentary making. The first of these steps was the establishment of our thematic channel TRT Belgesel (TRT Documentary), and the second was the creation of the 'TRT Documentary Awards' platform," he added.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas