Celebrating 20 Years! 2025 COMPETITION PROGRAM October 30 - November 9, 2025 COMPETITION FINALISTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON

Boston Turkish Festival's 20th Annual Documentary & Short Film Competition Co-presented with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Film Program OPENING THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2025 7:30 p.m. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Alfond Auditorium ONE OF THOSE DAYS WHEN HEMME DIES Hemme’nin Öldüğü Günlerden Biri Written and Directed by Murat Fıratoğlu 83 min. / 2024 / with English subtitles Cast: Murat Fıratoğlu, Sefer Fıratoğlu , Salih Taşçı , Güneş Sayın , Ali Barkın Birkan READ MORE... ------------------------------------------------------------ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2025 2:00 p.m. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Remis Auditorium THE CHORDS OF CHANGE Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı Directed by Yağız Alp Akaydın Written by Sırrı Süreyya Önder 128 min. / 2024 / with English subtitles Cast: Salih Bademci, Ertan Saban, Okan Yalabık, Ahmet Rıfat Sungar, Melis Sezen, Birce Akalay, Mehmet Özgür, Bensu Soral, Emre Karayel READ MORE...

Boston Turkish Arts and Culture Festival’s 20th Annual Documentary & Short Film Competition, co-presented with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Film Program has become a North American tradition attracting international acclaim. The competition kicks off with “One of Those Days When Hemme Dies” directed by Murat Fıratoğlu, official selection of Türkiye for the 98th Academy Awards Best International Feature Film category. The film made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize in the Orizzonti section. "The Chords of Change," directed by Yağız Alp Akaydın, chronicles the cultural and artistic revolution of 1930s Türkiye and the remarkable creation of "Özsoy," the first Turkish opera. This monumental and deeply emotional task was completed in just 27 days, with composer Ahmet Adnan Saygun not only composing the opera but also staging it with a dedicated team of musicians and artists. Saygun would later become one of the most significant and internationally recognized Turkish composers of classical music. This year’s competition kicks off on October 30th and continues on November 1st with in-person screenings at the MFA.  Screenings of the competition finalists will take place on October 31st, and November 7-9 at the Goethe-Institut Boston.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE COMPETITION IN PREVIOUS YEARS