― 14 ноября 2021 г.

Award Ceremony of the Korkut Ata Film Festival of the Turkic World

The award ceremony of the Korkut Ata Film Festival of the Turkic World organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey  with the contribution of  TURKSOY took place in the Ataturk Cultural Center of Istanbul. The festival which took place for the first time this year featured 42 films and gathered more than 100 professionals of the cinema industry. 

Prior to the awar ceremony the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Kerimov, the Minister of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan Aktoty Raimkulova, the Minister of Culture and Information of Kyrgyzstan Azamat Jamankulov, the Director General of the Agency of Cinematography of the Republic of Uzbekistan Firdavs Ubdulhakilov and the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Mehmet Nuri Ersoy signed a joint declaration.

The festival which took place in Istanbul under the motto “Wings of Mercy” and was held for the first time in Istanbul gathered many famous artists of the Turkic World.

In the speech he delivered at the ceremony, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Mehmet Nuri Ersoy expressed his pleasure to welcome such a distiguished audience  in Istanbul. Minister Ersoy who said that with its history dating back to thousands of years, the Turkic World has an ability of its very own to understand, explain and interpret things  and added: "We have a unique experience which is the result of everyting we learned, witnessed and took note of throughout our life and we have a vast world of ideas which makes it possible for us to constantly produce in order to shape the future from now on. Our history is full of the most striking tragedies which live on with us today. Novels, short stories, legends and mythology telling exciting stories and fantastic plots with colourful protagonists are all here."

Minister Ersoy who reminded of the fact that the Summit of Turkic World Cinema also takes place within the framework of the festival further said that this summit offers the opportunity to discuss and exchange views as to  what could be done all together to achieve more and better results. Minister Ersoy who added that the same approach is adopted today  when taking steps towards the future further said: "We have signed a very comprehensive declaration together with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This declaration sets the principles and steps to follow such as the creation of a Joint Cinema Fund of the Turkic World  and the Agreement on  Joint Production. Hence, this declaration is a serious commitment of the Turkic World in the field of culture and art. I think we have reached an important turning point. I hope that we will be rapidly putting this declaration in practice so as to achieve statistics of production and sales we deserve along with high-quality productions which we will be setting the standards of  to gain international recognition." 

Minister Ersoy who drew attention to the fact that Bursa was declared Cultural Capital of the Turkic World 2022 at the 38th Term Meeting of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of TURKSOY said that “The  Korkut Ata Turkic World Cinema Festival will hopefully be held in Bursa next year.”

Minister Ersoy who also expressed his happiness as to the fact that countres of the Turkic World have claimed ownership of this festival  added that it will be held in Susha, Azerbaijan  in 2023 followed by Kazakhstan in 2024, Uzbekistan in 2025 and Kyrgyzstan in 2026.

The first awards to be handed over at the festival were those offered as a recognition of contribution of the Turkic World. The first organization to receive the award inspired by a crane figure was the Baku Media Center represented by Arzu Aliyeva who was handed over the award by the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. "Contribution Awards of the Turkic World" were also handed over to the representatives of the Cinema Agency of Uzbekistan, the Kazakh Film Studio, the Kyrgyz Cinema Film Studios and the Turkish Radio and Television TRT. The awards were handed over to their winners by famous actors and actresses such as Engin Altan Düzyatan, Fahriye Evcen, Barış Arduç and Almira Krikova.

The Loyalty Award of the Festival went to Eldar and Shirin Aitmatov, the son and daughter of the world famous Kyrgyz author and common pride of the Turkic World Chingis Aitmatov. The Secretary General of TURKSOY Dusen Kasseinov who handed over the award to Eldar and Shirin Aitmatov reminded of “Dede Korkut’s words “solidarity for strength” and said: “May our unity be eternal.”

The "Best Film Award” went to Azerbaycan's film entitled "Between Scattered Deaths"

Upon evaluation by the jury of the “Documentary Film Competition” composed of Olga Radova, Aybek Veysaloglu Kopadze, Abdülhamit Avşar, Rıza Siyami and Neşe Sarısoy Karatay  the  documentary “Twins” from Iran won the first prize while the second prize went to "People’s Courage" from Uzbekistan and the third prize went to  “Linguist” from Russia.

“Ficton Film Awards” in four categories

The jury evaluating fiction films was composed of Gulbara Tolomushova, Firdavs Abduhalikov, Şükrü Sim, Rafiq Guliyev, Gulnara Abikeyeva and Mesut Uçakan who selected “Between Scattered Deaths” from Azerbaijan as the winner of the "Best Film Award", and the director and scenarist of the film “Shambala” Artıkpay Suyundukov from Kyrgyzstan as the winner of the  "Best Film Director " while the “Special Award of the Jury” went to "Mavzer" from Turkey, and  "Passion" from Uzbekistan.

The ceremony also featured folk dances of the Turkic World  along with  performances by   Arslanbek Sultanbekov and the Director General of the State Opera and Ballet of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey.