The 5th International Red Crescent Amity Short Film Festival awarded the best short film productions at the end of a meticulous selection process.
The festival, organized with support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the General Directorate of Cinema, is one of the most prestigious art events in Türkiye, featuring 448 films from 50 countries this year.
Chilean Director Katerina Harder's "Desert Lights" and Kasım Ördek's "Together, Alone" received the best picture award.
Among movies categorized under the "Humanitarian Eye" section, Iranian Perwiz Rostemi's "Seven Symphonies of Zagros" was selected and bagged its first award for the calendar year at the festival.
The festival, which set out with the intention of re-reading the concept of amity through cinematography, presented awards to winners at the historical Atlas.
Speaking at the ceremony, Culture and Tourism Deputy Minister Ahmet Misbah Demircan said, “Our first duty is to protect our tangible heritage, and the other is to protect intangible heritage, passing them on to future generations. To achieve these, books, theater, opera and mostly cinema help. Because it provides us with a great opportunity to communicate with millions of people. The world now has its eyes on Turkish culture and many people even strive to learn Turkish. All films, whether short or long, are the mediums of our culture. From this perspective, I would like to thank all the stakeholders of the cinematic fraternity.”
The Neşet Ertaş Amity Award was presented to Demir Özcan's movie "Istanbul Istanbul," while the festival's Fono Film Post Production Award was bagged by Emre Sefer's "The Day My Father Died."
The Red Crescent Humanitarian Perspective Award was presented for the first time this year at the festival to Iranian Perwiz Rostemi's "7 Symphonies of Zagros (Seven Symphonies of Zagros)," a film presented by Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) President Kerem Kınık.
Fourteen short films from 10 countries made it to the "Panorama" and "Kırk Yıllık Hatır" (roughly translating as "40 Years of Remembrance") sections.
The honorable mention was reserved for Agnieszka Nowosielska's film "Expression (Vraj)." The Special Jury Prize was presented to Valentina Casadei's "End of September."
