Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival closes: «Kanto» from Türkiye is best film, Sakha takes the documentary prize

Awards of the sixth Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival, held in Istanbul on 3-7 November, have been announced. TÜRKSOY organised the festival together with Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism; 56 films were screened and 30 productions competed in feature, documentary and short categories. The closing ceremony took place at the Atatürk Cultural Centre with TÜRKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev, Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Uzbek officials present.

Among feature films, Ensar Altay's «Kanto» (Türkiye) won Best Film. Zaur Gasimli took Best Director for «Tagiyev: The School» (Azerbaijan), Taalaibek Kulmendeev Best Screenplay for «Yusuf» (Kyrgyzstan), Amina Salmanova Best Actress for «Farzana Goes West» (Bashkortostan), and Matyokub Matchonov Best Actor for «Farz» (Uzbekistan). The TÜRKSOY Special Award went to Vefa Ishangulyyev's «The Beauty of Gurgench, Torebeg» (Turkmenistan), and the Jury Special Award to Torebek Beisebayev's «38: The Last Point» (Kazakhstan).

In documentaries, «Isiyah: Summer Solstice» from the Sakha Republic took first place, followed by Muminjan Ismatilla's «Thirst for Life» (Uzbekistan) and Tunç Boran's «The Unextinguished Fire» (Türkiye). The jury's special award went to the Azerbaijani-Turkish co-production «Azykh Cave: The Cradle of Azerbaijan» by Atakan Kerkükli. Among shorts, Mert Erez's «Rehber» (Türkiye) came first, Temirlan Orisbayev's «Grandmother» (Kazakhstan) second, and «Sun Child Yusuf» by Suhrob Qodirov and Dilshod Usmonov (Uzbekistan) third.

The programme also included a Turkic World Cinema Summit, the Korkut Ata Cinema Symposium and an AI panel; at the first Türkiye-Kyrgyzstan project presentation, four projects were announced for funding. At the close, the Turkic World Tourism Capital emblem passed from Ankara (2026) to Tashkent (2027).