The Johan van der Keuken New Talent Award was presented to “Where Am I in My Story?” (Hikayemin Neresindeyim?), while the Special Jury Award went to “Ruins Talking Back“ (Harabelerin Fısıltısı) at the Documentarist 19th Istanbul Documentary Days. “March 8 with Stella” (Stella ile 8 Mart) won the Best Cinematography and Best Editing Awards, whereas “Ruins Talking Back” took home the Best Sound Design Award. Additionally, “March 8 with Stella” and “Dogs and Dust” (Köpekler ve Toz) were awarded screening prizes at Sala Lucida in Buenos Aires, a partner venue of the festival.
Spread over nine days this year and extended by an extra day due to Sunday restrictions, the awards for the Documentarist 19th Istanbul Documentary Days have been announced.
The Johan van der Keuken New Talent Award jury—composed of Cem Kaya, Aybüke Avcı, and Bilge Taş—awarded the Grand Prize to “Where Am I in My Story?” (Hikayemin Neresindeyim?), directed by Nalin Acar and Adar Taş. The jury also deemed “Ruins Talking Back” (Harabelerin Fısıltısı) directed by İklim Doğan, worthy of the Special Jury Award.
The jury stated that the JvdK New Talent Award was given to “Where Am I in My Story?” because: “While following the daily lives of women from two different Kurdish families shaped within the framework of nation-state and gender roles, the film creates equal space for each. With its dynamic and balanced editing, it successfully transforms individual experiences into a powerful collective narrative, revealing with profound clarity women’s quest for freedom, their complex relationships with patriarchy within family roles, and their diverse forms of resistance.”
The same jury decided to present the Special Jury Award to “Ruins Talking Back” for “making visible the layers of memory left outside official history through a lean, investigative, and impressive cinematic language.” The award justification included the following statements: “Beginning with a train journey, the film travels along the Berlin–Baghdad line, searching for traces of the Armenian genocide at the stations of the deportation. Through railways, architectural remains, spaces, graves, and citations, it transforms images of the present into sites of memory without resorting to archival footage. Looking at the traces of exile, war, and devastation from within the ruins, the director reminds us of the indelibility of the past.”
Editing, Cinematography, and Sound Design Awards
Organized in cooperation with the Film Editors’ Society of Türkiye (Kurgucular Dayanışması – KUDA), this year’s jury for the Editing, Cinematography, and Sound Design Awards—composed of Meryem Yavuz, Tuvana Simin Günay, and Eli Haligua—presented the Best Cinematography and Best Editing Awards to the documentary “March 8 with Stella”(Stella ile 8 Mart), directed by Aylin Kuryel.
In the justification for the Best Cinematography Award, the film was described as one: “…which reminds us that it is not the camera filming, but the person walking those paths, and reminds us to take refuge in one another during a time when filmmaking is becoming increasingly difficult; a film that draws its power—which could make one watch it for hours—from the values it carries from the past to the future, inspiring us with its unique narrative inventions.”
The jury also decided to present the Best Editing Award to Aylin Kuryel and Eytan İpeker, who edited the same film, due to their “creative approach to editing and the fluidity of their narrative, despite being shot with highly limited space and resources.” The award justification noted: “By intertwining a single night with two different layers of time, this film portrays our current political atmosphere and women’s struggle, while successfully blending two women’s worldview with humor and sincerity.”
The justification for the Best Sound Design Award, which was presented to Bassano Bonelli Bassano for his work on “Ruins Talking Back” (Harabelerin Fısıltısı), was announced as follows: “From the very beginning of the film, the sound accompanied our journey with its dark atmosphere, constantly making its presence felt through the use of natural elements without stealing the spotlight. Thanks to its successful sound design and audio mixing, it managed to become an invisible companion and supporter of the story being told. We present this year’s Best Sound Design Award to Ruins Talking Back. We congratulate all nominees for their hard work.”
An International Screening Award was also introduced to the festival awards for the first time this year. Operating in Buenos Aires with a documentary-focused program, the Sala Lucida cinema decided to include the films “March 8 with Stella” (Stella ile 8 Mart) and “Dogs and Dust” (Köpekler ve Toz) in its screening schedule. The is presented by Ana Fraile, the founder and director of the cinema, who was also among the festival’s guests.
The Documentarist 19th Istanbul Documentary Days was organized with the support of the Consulate General of the Netherlands, the Embassy of Portugal, the Camões Institute, the Embassy of Slovenia, the French Institute, the Cervantes Institute, the Austrian Cultural Office, the Consulate General of Brazil, and Continental Hotels, and in cooperation with the Editors’ Guild of Turkey (KUDA), the Pera Museum, the French Institute, Aynalı Geçit, Postane, Manifold, Bianet, and Fol Studio.
The 20th ediiton of Documentarist will be held from 11th to 19th of June, 2027.