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AWARD WINNING FILMS ARE IN "DOCUMENTARIST"

A series of award-winning documentaries will be featuring at DOCUMENTARIST: Alguna Tristeza (A Kind of Sadness), The English Surgeon, The Monastery, To See If I'm Smiling, Black Sun and many others...

Please check FILMS for details.

NOMINEES FOR “BEST TURKISH DOCUMENTARY AWARD”
ARE FEATURING AT DOCUMENTARIST

Turkish Film Critics Association (SIYAD) made a decision to introduce the documentary category to the Turkish Cinema Awards which has a history of 40 years in the sector. The nominated films for the first “SIYAD Best Documentary Award” will be included in the programme of DOCUMENTARIST. During the course of the week, the documentaries will be seen also by the members of the association.

The films in this section which will be presented under the title of “SIYAD’s Selection of Turkish Documentaries”, will be chosen from among 65 documentaries that participated in various festivals throughout 2008. SIYAD’s intention with these screenings is to achieve visibility for films that enjoy a limited range of opportunities for showcasing and draw attention through this award to the production of documentaries in Turkey.

WHY “DOCUMENTARIST”?

Istanbul is not only the heart and soul of Turkish cinema but also the center for the Turkish documentary industry. The city is home to a great number of academic institutions that provide training in cinema and television and many documentaries are filmed here. In such a promising setting, even though the number of film festivals follows an ever-rising curve, the screening possibilities for documentaries is still scarce. "DOCUMENTARIST – Istanbul Documentary Days” is aiming to make a contribution towards the fulfillment of this need by not
only attracting documentary-enthusiasts but also the new-generation of documentary-makers and film students with its rich screening programme and masterclasses.

DOCUMENTARIST intends to create a platform upon which Turkish documentarists can enjoy opportunities to meet with their international colleagues and where the new generation of independent documentary-makers can have the chance to share experiences with each other.

The members of the SIYAD Turkish Film Critics Association will put together a selection of new documentaries produced in Turkey, in the frame of “DOCUMENTARIST”. The event will also feature a selection of foreign documentaries which will provide the Istanbulites with the chance to view the finest examples of international documentary genre.

DOCUMENTARIST will host every year world-renowned documentary filmmakers/producers to lead masterclasses, workshops and will invite representatives of substantial TV channels that are highly prominent in the documentary industry. Building bridges between Turkish documentarists and the international sector is one of the most important objectives of the event.