The 8th Turkish World Documentary Film Festival awards, of which the Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) is among the project partners, were given to their owners at the ceremony held at TRT Arı Studios in Ankara on October 22, 2023.

16 productions received awards among 151 documentary films evaluated among 372 films that applied from 23 countries for the 8th Turkish World Documentary Film Festival this year.

Special Awards at the 8th Turkish World Documentary Film Festival were given to the following documentary films: Turkish State Organizations 2023 Modern Silk Road Tourism Generation Special Award Poçtalyon (Postman) İbadılla Acıbayev (Kyrgyzstan); Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan Special Award in Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of Azerbaijan Film, Earthquake and Uzbeks from Ovakent Hüseyin Özden (Turkey); “Special Pre-Jury Award” went to Syrian Cosmonaut Charles Emir Richards.

The “2023 University Students Audience Special Award”, which was given for the first time this year and determined by the votes of students at the universities where the screenings were held, went to Tirik Askar Sherzod Nazarov (Uzbekistan).

In the Student Documentary Film Category, First Prize was “Harvesing Our Tea Sherida Kiran (Turkey-England), Second Prize was Tirik Askar Sherzod Nazarov (Uzbekistan), Third Prize was “Children of the White Mountain” Yalçın Çiftçi (Turkey) and Special Jury Prize was given to “The Birth of Kennedy” Gülben Arıcı (Turkey)

In the Short Documentary Film Category, First Prize went to Nowruz Erturan Najafi Gol (Iran), Second Prize went to Begüm AKSOY-Deya Ar (Turkey) Under the Walnut, Third Prize went to Vira Yavuz Selim Taşçıoğlu (Turkey) and Special Jury Prize went to Böyük Gırmizi Ev Lelakhanım Ganbarlı (Azerbaijan).

First Prize in the Feature Documentary Film Category at the 8th Turkish World Documentary Film Festival, Fikret Amirov, Vagif Mustafayev (Azerbaijan); Second Prize: Emma Merve Kuş Mataracı (Türkiye-England), Arkadaşloch – Nobody’s Problem Nilay Kılınç-Markus Bauer-Alexander Brugger (Türkiye and Austria) and Sezer Ağgez (Turkey) was entitled to receive the Special Jury Prize for 40 Years After Fatma.

The Turkish World Honor Award, in memory of Azerbaijani Deputy “Ganire Pashayeva” who passed away on September 28, 2023, was given to Bir Tugan-Khakaslar Nazgul Kenzhetay (Kazakhstan).

2023 Turkish World Lifetime Honor Award was presented to Academician-Researcher İrfan Gürdal for his services to the culture and art of the Turkish world.

Award Winning Documentary Films Will Be Screened in 9 Countries

Films awarded at the festival will first start with screenings at Baku State University, Azerbaijan State University of Civilization and Fine Arts and Public Screening in Azerbaijan on 25-28 October 2023. Then, screenings will be held in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Hungary, North Macedonia and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The closing will be held at Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University.