Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival in Istanbul Again

The Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival is returning to Istanbul, the city where it first began five years ago. Organized by the General Directorate of Cinema of the Republic of Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism in cooperation with the International Cinema Association, the festival will welcome cinema enthusiasts from November 3 to 7, 2026. Marking its sixth edition, the festival will bring together filmmakers, productions, and industry representatives from Turkic republics and communities, as well as member and observer states of the Organization of Turkic States, in Istanbul. Featuring films shot in Turkish and Turkic dialects, the event aims to share the shared cultural heritage of the Turkic world with international audiences through cinema.

Istanbul was the first stop for the Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival in 2021. After being held in Bursa in 2022, the festival took place in Baku (Azerbaijan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), and Aktau (Kazakhstan). Having toured various cultural centers of the Turkic world over the past five years, the festival returns to Istanbul for its sixth edition. The event aims to merge Istanbul’s rich cultural and artistic legacy with the cinema of the Turkic world, while fostering cinematic ties between nations and paving the way for new co-productions.

A notable new feature of this year’s program is the short film competition. As part of the General Directorate of Cinema’s efforts to encourage short film production and support young filmmakers, a Short Film Competition is being added to the festival program for the first time. This new competitive category aims to help young and independent directors from the Turkic world reach a wider audience. The festival will also provide an opportunity to support a new generation of filmmakers and bring together diverse forms of storytelling.

This year, the festival will feature competitions in three separate categories: feature-length fiction, documentary, and short film.