Göbeklitepe Film Festival Opens Its 5th Edition in Şanlıurfa
The free festival in Şanlıurfa runs until 8 November with honorary awards for two actors.
The 5th Göbeklitepe International Film Festival has opened in Şanlıurfa, southeastern Türkiye. It is a free cinema event set in a city known for some of the world’s oldest archaeological discoveries. The programme runs until 8 November.
The Göbeklitepe Culture and Art Association organizes the festival together with the Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality. Screenings, talks and music performances are all free, according to Türkiye Today.
How the Göbeklitepe International Film Festival began
The opening events took place at the Vali Kemalettin Gazezoğlu Culture and Art Center. The festival began with an art exhibition by Ibrahim Halil Kutlug titled “Memory of Traces.” A live musical performance also featured in the ceremony.
Vedat Akıllı, Deputy Secretary General of the municipality, welcomed guests. He said a city needs more than roads and sewage systems to recover, and he called cinema an important pillar of culture.
Honorary awards and this year’s theme
The main theme this year is “Sayburc.” The source does not explain the choice, so we will not guess at its meaning here. Honorary awards will go to actors Meltem Cumbul and Menderes Samancılar. Hürriyet Daily News also reports these honorees.
Festival Director Mustafa Deniz Doğan said the team has spent five years linking cinema with Şanlıurfa’s heritage of thousands of years. He described the event as a meeting place for cultures, ideas and stories, not only a set of screenings.
Why Şanlıurfa suits a film festival
Doğan said guests are encouraged to see the city up close. Alongside local cuisine, organizers stress visits to Göbeklitepe, an archaeological site more than 11,000 years old. Guests will also visit the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum and the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum.
For readers of Turkish series and history, the festival shows how film, museums and ancient sites are being promoted together in one city. The festival closes on 8 November.
Source: Türkiye Today, Hürriyet Daily News
Featured image: Teomancimit / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
