Having launched its first edition in 2008 and since then embracing its mission as a meeting platform for documentary filmmakers for 19 years, DOCUMENTARIST Istanbul Documentary Days is currently the only documentary film festival in Turkey. Aiming each year to bring audiences in Turkey together with new and award-winning documentaries curated from the world’s most prestigious film festivals, as well as the most prominent figures of documentary cinema globally, the festival has so far hosted masters in Istanbul such as Nick Fraser, Eyal Sivan, Helena Třeštíková, Iikka Vehkalahti, John Appel, Heddy Honigmann, Alan Berliner, Stefan Jarl, Zelimir Zilnik, Pirjo Honkasalo, Sean McAllister, Elane Raheb, Alona van der Horst, Magnus Gertten, Petra Lataster-Czisch, Peter Lataster, Audrius Stonys, Laila Pakalniņa, Hubert Sauper, and Jean-Gabriel Périot.
Adopting the support of young documentary filmmakers as its core principle, DOCUMENTARIST presents the New Talent Award every year to a film among the first or second features of directors. Since 2012, the award has been named after the renowned Dutch documentarian Johan van der Keuken. Furthermore, since 2014, DOCUMENTARIST has become one of the three festivals in Turkey to host the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Jury. In 2023, in collaboration with the Editors’ Solidarity (KUDA), the festival also began presenting awards for Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound Design.
Held annually in June, the festival sustains its mission to serve as a meeting hub for local and international documentary filmmakers through side events such as the “Which Human Rights? Film Festival” organized in December, and the now-traditional “SaturDox Documentary Encounters” held bi-weekly on Saturdays at DEPO. With its increasingly professionalized team, the festival continues to raise the bar each year.
The poster for DOCUMENTARIST 2014 won first prize in the poster-print category at a design competition held in the USA. The poster was created featuring the faces of actors such as Hazal Kaya, Ayça Damgacı, and Sadi Celil Cengiz. Other artists who have taken part in our promotional campaigns over the years include Serra Yılmaz, Nejat İşler, Ahu Türkpençe, Bülent Emin Yarar, Muhammet Uzuner, Tülin Özen, Türkü Turan, Derviş Zaim, Yiğit Özşener, Aslı Şahin, Sanem Öge, and Füsun Demirel.
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