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 on Thursday, October 30th at 7:30 p.m. with “One of Those Days When Hemme Dies” (Hemme’nin Öldüğü Günlerden Biri) 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.

On Saturday, November 1st at 2:00 p.m., "The Chords of Change," (Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı) 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.

Screenings of the competition finalists will take place on November 7-9 at the Goethe-Institut Boston and on November 14 & 16 at Boston University.

Members of this year's Competition Jury:

Dr. Kurt Fendt, Film and Media Scholar
Katherine Irving, Film Programmer and Educator
Peter Keough, Film Critic
Erin Trahan, Film Reporter and Critic

Don't forget to vote online for your favorite film(s) for the audience award after you watch the film(s)! In addition to the 'Best Documentary" and "Best Short Film" Awards to be selected by the jury, we will also announce the "Audience Awards". Therefore, we invite you all to participate in this fun process!

All films are presented with English subtitles or in English unless otherwise noted. 

Co-presented with the Turkish American Cultural Society of New England and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Film Program