Girne documentary selected for US Turkic film festival

“Girne Belgeseli” is among 21 films chosen for the official selection of the 2026–2027 Turkic Languages & Heritage Film Festival, which will stage screenings in several US cities.

The festival is organised around four themes — “Roots”, “Crossings”, “Becoming” and “Traces” — with the selected films due to be screened as part of a programme taking Turkic-language and heritage productions to audiences across America.

The opening events will be held at the Turkish House in New York on December 4 and 5, while the closing and awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Washington DC on April 30 and May 1, 2027.

Additional screenings are also planned in the San Francisco Bay Area under the festival’s “Across America” programme.

Directed by Derya Atamer and produced by Ali Atamer, the documentary focuses on Girne’s history, cultural identity and social memory.

The film had its gala premiere at the Girne Amphitheatre on September 28, 2025.

It has since gained recognition at several festivals and awards events, reaching the finals in the Best Cultural Documentary and Best Editing in a Documentary categories at the Anatolian International Film Festival.

It was also named a semi-finalist at the IMDb-accredited Turkic World Documentary Film Festival and won the Best Documentary award at the Turkish Cypriot Journalists’ Association Media Achievement Awards.