The Turkish Documentary Week, which artistically expressed the hopes and realities of life, was held between April 19-23, 2021 under the name "Turkish DocuWeek".

The online documentary week "Turkish DocuWeek", which included documentaries that artistically and effectively expressed the real issues in life, was held for the first time between April 19-23. The online Turkish Documentary Week was materialized with the collaboration of Yunus Emre Institutes in Berlin, Zagreb and Belgrade and showcased documentaries that provided innovative and effective opinions from the recently popular Turkish film industry.

The documentary week included an anthology of documentaries that were screened and gained awards in many large-scale festivals including the Istanbul Film Festival, Documentarist Istanbul Documentary Days, Switzerland International Film Festival, Akbank Short Film Festival, Beyond Borders International Documentary Festival, TRT International Documentary Awards, Locarno Film Festival, and Hof International Film Festival.

13 DOCUMENTARIES IN ONE WEEK

A total of 13 documentaries were screened during the Turkish Documentary Week. 10 Turkish documentaries and 3 international guest documentaries were screened during the Turkish Documentary Week for the film lovers. Film lovers had a chance to watch the documentaries in Turkey and in European and Balkan countries. The three documentaries, which were copyrighted by Yunus Emre Institute and supported through with various projects, were screened for free throughout the week in a special category called "Yunus Emre Institute Special Screenings".

STARTED WITH THE "MIMAROĞLU" AND "ISTANBUL'UN GÖZÜ"

The Turkish Documentary Week, which was organized for the purposes of including new voices besides the well-established names and providing the opportunity for the film lowers to open the doors of the wonderland of Turkish film industry, included the documentary "Mimaroğlu", directed by Serdar Kökçeoğlu and about the story of Ilhan Mimaroğlu, the legendary electronic music composer who immigrated from Turkey to the USA in 1960s and his bright significant other Güngör Mimaroğlu, and the documentary "Istanbul'un Gözü", directed by Binnur Karaevli and Fatih Kaymak and about the life and art of the late photographer Ara Güler.

"UMUDUN ADI AZEZ" ALSO MET THE AUDIENCE

Murat Pay’s “Maşuk'un Nefesi”, Enver Arcak’s “Hermana”, Stephan Talneau’s “SAZ”, Tamara and Kotevsa and Ljubormir's “Perfect Black”, Damian Nenadić’s “Days of Madness”, Pelin Esmer’s “Kraliçe Lear”, Rıdvan Karaman’s “Kimsesizler Oteli”, and Mladen Kovacevic’s “Unplugged” were also among the other documentaries screened online throughout the Turkish DocuWeek. Within the scope of Yunus Emre Institute Special Screenings, “Edzard Reuter - Leylek Bacaklı”, produced by Murat Tosun and directed by Dirk Schäfer, Mehmet Yılmaz’s “Umudun Adı: Azez” and Enis Rıza Sakızlı’s “Anadolu'nun Kadim Hikayesi” were among the other works screened throughout the Turkish Documentary Week.

While the entire world is being digitalized during the pandemic, the Turkish Documentary Week also held online sessions with directors and producers about three different topics on three different days besides the online documentary screenings. These sessions were also presented to the film lovers through all the social media platforms after the screenings by preparing short videos that included questions and answers with producers, directors and actors participating in the Turkish Documentary Week.

Film sessions were held within the scope of the Turkish Documentary Week with Ümran Safter, the producer of "Istanbul'un Gözü: Ara Güler", Enver Arcak, the director of "Hermana", Serdar Kökçeoğlu, the director of "Mimaroğlu", Murat Pay, the director of "Maşukun Nefesi", Dilde Mahalli, the producer of "Kraliçe Lear", Dirk Schafer and Murat Tosun, the director and producer of "Edzard Reuter - Leylek Bacaklı", Petra Nachtmanova, the actor of "Saz", and Mladen Kovacevic, the director of "Unplugged".

Türk Belgesel Haftası kapsamında; İstanbul’un Gözü: Ara Güler’in yapımcısı Ümran Safter, Hermana’nın yönetmeni Enver Arcak, Mimaroğlu’nun yönetmeni Serdar Kökçeoğlu, Maşukun Nefesi’nin yönetmeni Murat Pay, Kraliçe Lear’in yapımcısı Dilde Mahalli, Edzard Reuter - Leylek Bacaklı’nın yönetmeni Dirk Schafer ve yapımcısı Murat Tosun, Saz’ın oyuncusu Petra Nachtmanova ve Unplugged belgeselinin yönetmeni Mladen Kovacevic ile film söyleşileri yapıldı.

HISTORY OF CINEMA, DOCUMENTARIES AND HISTORIOGRAPHY SESSION

The History of Cinema, Documentaries and Historiography session was held during the Turkish Documentary Week, coordinated by the film director and critic Cem Öztüfekçi, with the participation of the documentary director and film critic Enes Rıza, the silent film curator, archivist and applied film historian Elif Rongen-Kaynakçı from the Netherlands Eye Film Museum, and film scholar, screenwriter and film critic Assoc. Prof. Melis Behlil. The second online session during the Turkish Documentary Week was held with the participation of the editor of Mimaroğlu, Eytan Ipeker, and the editor of Unplugged documentary, Nataşa Damjanovic. Ipeker and Damjanovic had the chance to discuss editing and audio-visual narration in the documentary industry with the moderation of Cem Öztüfekçi.