1. PURPOSE

The Documentary Film Competition, organised within the framework of the 6th KORKUT ATA TURKIC WORLD FILM FESTIVAL — an international cinema event held by the International Cinema Association — aims to bring the Turkic states and communities together around shared cultural values, to foster a common consciousness of history, culture and unity, to reflect through the art of cinema the contemporary Turkic culture and civilisation spread across the Eurasian geography, to support established and young artists working in cinema across the Turkic republics and communities in producing new works, and to promote the resulting high-quality cinematic works on the international stage.

2. COMPETITION DATES

• Festival Dates: 3 – 7 November 2026 (Istanbul)
• Application Deadline: 25 September 2026

3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Documentary films completed after 1 January 2024 may apply to the competition.
• Documentary productions from the member and observer states of the Organization of Turkic States, as well as from countries located in the Eurasian geography, may participate, provided they are shot predominantly in Turkish or in a dialect of Turkish. For works without dialogue, it is sufficient that the work has been produced by artists of Turkic origin or Turkic-speaking artists.
• The national cinema institution of each participating country must select the film that will represent its country in the Documentary Film Competition of the 6th Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival and notify the Festival Management no later than 25 September 2026. Producers of films from Türkiye and the TRNC may apply directly.
• Documentary films entering the competition must have a running time of at least 30 minutes.
• Applications must be made by the producer holding the legal rights to the film, or by an authorised representative.
• Previous participation in, or awards received from, national or international competitions is not an obstacle to applying. However, films that have previously applied to or participated in the Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival may not apply again.
• Productions that have previously been broadcast on national or local television channels, released publicly on digital platforms (Pay TV, IPTV, VoD, etc.) or online video-sharing services (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.), or made commercially available on DVD/Blu-ray, may not enter the competition.
• Applications are made by completing in full the online Application Form available on the festival’s official website (www.korkutatafilmfestivali.com).
• Films selected for the competition are announced through the festival’s official website and social media accounts. Rights holders of films that are not selected are not notified separately.
• The applicant undertakes that they hold the copyright to all visual, audio and written material used in the film. All legal liability arising from any copyright infringement suffered by third parties rests entirely with the applicant.
• The Festival Management has the right to take and publish an excerpt of up to two (2) minutes from the selected films, approved by the producer, for promotional purposes.
• Films announced as selected for the competition may not be withdrawn from the festival programme by their rights holders except in cases of force majeure. Every rights holder who applies is deemed to have accepted this article.
• The applicant undertakes that they hold the copyright to all visual, audio (music, archive footage, etc.) and written material used in the documentary. All legal liability arising from any copyright infringement suffered by third parties rests entirely with the applicant.

4. MATERIALS REQUIRED FROM SELECTED FILMS

Rights holders of films that pass the pre-selection and qualify for the competition are obliged to deliver the following materials to the Festival Management (korkutatafilmfestivalibasvuru@gmail.com) within 10 days at the latest from the announcement of the results:

• A screening copy of the film with Turkish subtitles, in QuickTime, MP4 or MOV format at a resolution of at least 1920×1080 (Full HD),
• A time-coded dialogue/text list in Turkish and English,
• Turkish and English synopses of the film (maximum 50 words),
• A short biography and filmography of the director in Turkish and English (maximum 100 words),
• A high-resolution digital poster and at least 5 high-resolution stills from the film (in JPG format),
• 1 high-resolution portrait photograph of the director,
• An unsubtitled trailer of the film and an online trailer link, for promotional use.

5. JURY AND EVALUATION PRINCIPLES

• Films selected for the competition are evaluated in a single category (Documentary).
• Jury members are appointed by the Festival Management and are selected from among academics, film critics, industry representatives, directors, screenwriters, actors and cinematographers, as well as internationally recognised figures of cinema, who have no connection to the production teams of the competing films.
• Pre-Selection Committee: Consists of a minimum of 3 (three) and a maximum of 5 (five) members. It determines a maximum of 15 (fifteen) documentary films to be nominated for the competition.
• Main Jury: Consists of a minimum of 5 (five) and a maximum of 9 (nine) members. The President of the Main Jury is appointed by the Festival Management.
• The Festival Management may assign a non-voting observer to attend jury meetings.
• Jury members watch all competition films together in a venue designated by the festival management. Jury decisions become final upon delivery of the official minutes signed by all members.
• Under no circumstances may jury members share the results of their evaluation with third parties before the official Award Ceremony.

6. AWARDS

Within the scope of the competition, the Crane Statuette Award is presented in the following categories:

• Best Documentary Award
• Second Prize
• Third Prize
• TÜRKSOY Special Award (determined by the International Organization of Turkic Culture — TÜRKSOY.)
• Jury Special Award (presented if the jury deems it necessary. The Jury Special Award and the Best Documentary Award may not be given to the same film.)

7. SPECIAL PROVISIONS

• There is no cash prize: The awards presented at the Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival are symbolic and honorary in nature; no monetary payment is made to the winners. Winners are presented with the Crane Statuette and an Official Award Certificate.
• No separate screening fee is paid to rights holders for documentaries shown at the festival.
• Representatives of award-winning films (director or producer) are obliged to attend the Award Ceremony.
• Travel and accommodation expenses for one member of the award-winning film’s team will be covered by the Festival Management. Award statuettes and certificates are not delivered to individuals or productions that fail to attend the ceremony without providing a valid excuse.
• Films that fail to deliver the requested information and technical materials on time, or that do not meet the technical requirements, may be disqualified from the competition.
• Copies of the films selected for the competition are held in the archive of the International Cinema Association on a non-commercial basis, to be made available for educational and research activities where necessary. All legal rights of the rights holders are reserved.
• All rights holders who apply to the festival are deemed to have accepted the provisions of these regulations.
• The authority to decide on matters not covered by these regulations, and to amend the articles of these regulations where deemed necessary, rests with the Board of Directors of the Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival.