TRT International Documentary Awards

Since 2009, the TRT International Documentary Awards have been organized in line with the global broadcasting mission of TRT, Turkey's public broadcaster. The event aims to support international amateur and professional documentary filmmakers, bring documentary films from different countries to audiences, and create an environment where documentary filmmakers and industry members can exchange ideas.
The impact of the festival, realized through the vision of TRT as a powerful and international broadcasting brand, expands every year. Organizing its 17th edition this year with the participation of prestigious productions, esteemed directors, producers, industry representatives, and expert academics, the TRT International Documentary Awards uses its ever-increasing international influence to create awareness and set the agenda on issues concerning humanity, peace, and universal values.
Considered one of the world's leading events today, the TRT International Documentary Awards was first held in 2009. Having introduced large audiences in our country to documentaries, TRT aimed to utilize its accumulated knowledge and experience to encourage the development of documentary cinema, leading to the idea of a documentary competition. Organized nationally in its first year, the competition aimed to encourage documentary filmmakers in amateur and professional categories. Due to intense interest, the "International" category was added in 2010, the second year of the event, opening the festival to documentary filmmakers worldwide; the competition received 232 film applications from 40 countries.
In its first ten years, the TRT International Documentary Awards evolved beyond being just a competition into a comprehensive documentary festival with panels, talks, workshops, and masterclasses. Over time, categories such as "National Student Films" and "Project Support" were added, ensuring support for ideas still in the production stage. Despite the pandemic that affected the entire world in 2019 and 2020, the TRT International Documentary Awards continued uninterrupted and reached record participation levels in certain years.
In recent years, the festival has been organized with special "mottos" focusing on important global issues. Numerous activities, including film screenings, talks, panels, and exhibitions, were shaped according to themes set to draw attention to global crises, the threat of war, and particularly the genocide in Gaza. In the 15th year, the theme "So Far, Yet So Close" drew attention to the human tragedy in Gaza, reaching a record 1,651 applications. In the 16th year, 1,243 documentary films from 98 countries applied to the festival, which was held with the motto "Whose Story, Whose Truth?"
Since its first year, the festival has brought stories about people, nature, life, and history from different geographies and cultures to documentary audiences. At times, it followed the traces of covered truths to become the voice of those unheard in oppressed regions, revealing injustices through the eyes of witnesses; at other times, as in 2023 in honor of the 100th anniversary of our Republic, it focused on narratives filtered through a deep-rooted past.
During the four-day schedule of the TRT International Documentary Awards, which enriches the documentary climate in Turkey and the world, award-winning and prestigious films are presented to the audience alongside documentaries participating in the competition. With masterclasses held by famous directors, talks on the present and future of documentary filmmaking, panels, and workshops, the festival goes beyond being a competition to offer an area for learning and sharing. Prestigious names among jury members and participants from all over the world increasingly strengthen the event's quality as a special international platform.
Continuing to be the meeting point for new perspectives, new voices, and new stories every year to draw attention to the common values of the earth and contribute to documentary cinema with stories reflecting humanity, life, and the spirit of the time, the festival meets audiences in Istanbul with all its events held free of charge. Following the screening week where finalist documentary films and a special film selection meet the audience, the TRT International Documentary Awards continues its journey among the world's respected festivals with the principle "TRT is both memory and future," culminating in a colorful Gala Night where winners receive their awards.