Özkaya’s documentary, “Leyla ile Mecnun Gurbette” (Leyla and Mecnun Abroad), part of the festival’s SİYAD Selection program (put together by the Turkish Film Critics Association), received her award at the festival’s closing ceremony at the Pera Museum auditorium, the Anatolia news agency reported.The Documentarist New Talent Award, introduced this year and aimed at supporting novel approaches in documentary filmmaking, comes with a cash prize of 1,000 euros, funded by the Dutch Consulate General in İstanbul.
In “Leyla ile Mecnun Gurbette,” Özkaya documents a true love story, that between her parents, through letters they sent to each other to and from the Netherlands and a village near the eastern Turkish province of Sivas.
Documentarist also awarded Cahit Çeçen’s documentary short “Kahpe Devran” (Nasty Age) with a special mention.
The third edition of the annual festival, organized by the İstanbul-based Eurasia Art Collective (ASK), ran from June 22-27. More than 120 documentaries from 35 countries, among them international award-winning titles, were shown throughout the festival.
