This year, under the theme 'System Error', the film festival will have a total 76 films showing, 16 of which are Turkish productions. The festival kicks off with a showing of Vibeke Bryld's' Bedtime Stories from the Axis of Evil on September 27th, however the night prior, on September 26th, there will be a performance by the KeKeÇa: Rythm Your Body group and musician Özgür Demir at the Cemal Reşit Rey Theater.
The festival will include a 'First Films' section devoted to ten films by young directors. There will be 25 guest directors attending the event from France, Germany, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Palestine, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Argentina, Denmark and Holland.
Films will be shown at the Tarık Zafer Tunaya Kültür Merkezi, Beyoğlu Belediyesi Gençlik Merkezi, Fransız Kültür Merkezi, Nazım Hikmet Kültür Merkezi and the Beşiktaş Belediyesi Ortaköy Kültür Merkezi'nde (Afife Jale Salonu) and will be free of charge.
The program for the International 1001 Documentary Film Festival has been broken down into a color coding system denoting specific themes. They are as follows:
Black: Stories about true life war, violence, social depression and the people who experienced, suffered or resisted these time.
Red: The conditions of work and labor, workers and laborers in the world order.
Orange: Modern day stories from close or far geography.
Yellow: The original approaches to history by cinema and documentaries.
Blue: Ordinary stories about extraordinary people and extraordinary stories about ordinary people.