Director Miray Kuyumcu (L) poses with the Best National Film award for ‘326’ at the closing ceremony.
Celebrating the best in cinema, the fifth Göbeklitepe International Film Festival culminated in an awards ceremony on Nov. 8 in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.
Organized by the Göbeklitepe Culture and Arts Association with the support of the Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality, the festival’s closing ceremony was held at the Governor Kemalettin Gazezoğlu Culture and Arts Center, also known as Reji Church.
Speaking at the ceremony, Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Ahmet Aksoy expressed his satisfaction with the growing number of international social and cultural events hosted by the city.
Aksoy said films could bring subjects that might otherwise take pages or hours to explain to wider audiences in a short time, adding that audiences had recently encountered a number of highly successful productions.
Honorary awards were presented to actors Meltem Cumbul and Menderes Samancılar.
In the international category, Jesus Cardiel from Spain won Best Director for “Inmaculada,” while Bahador Zamani from Iran received Best Screenplay for “DNA.” Hae Park from South Korea won Best Film for “Broken Dawn.”
In the national category, Turgut Kanal received Best Screenplay for “Mümeyyiz,” Cemal İşnas won Best Director for “Hevraz” and Miray Kuyumcu’s “326” was named Best Film.
In the archaeology-themed documentary category, the Klaus Schmidt Documentary Award went to Spanish director Pradas Vitaller for “Discovering Pompeii and Herculaneum.”
