International Gordion Archeofilm Festival finalists announced

ANKARA

The event’s preliminary jury has revealed the shortlist for the second International Gordion Archeofilm Festival, with 12 films in the professional and 10 in the student category advancing to the final stage.

Organized by the Gordion Foundation with the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Directorate General of Cinema, the festival will bring together archaeology and cinema enthusiasts in the Turkish capital of Ankara and Polatlı from Sept. 24 to 27.

Kadim Koç, Chairman of the Gordion Foundation, emphasized that the event aims to promote Gordion — Ankara’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site — while becoming a long-term cultural tradition.

“Our preliminary jury worked intensively and objectively to select the finalists. Now, the main jury will evaluate them during the festival,” Koç said, noting that this year’s edition received an impressive 1,198 submissions from 102 countries.

Among the professional finalists are Türkiye’s “Zerzevan’s Mysterious History” (Kamer İncedursun), “Oya” (Sevinç Baloğlu) and “Kahin” (Şükrü Gürsoy), alongside international entries such as Italy’s “Gargano Sacro” (Lorenzo Scaraggi), Japan’s “The Journey” (Kazuya Isobe) and Iran’s “Wind's Heritage” (Nasim Soheili).

In the student category, Türkiye is represented by films including “Altay” (Pelin Gergin), “Kışyarı” (Hamit Başar Yıldırım) and “Gri Ankara” (Serkan Işık/ Emre Balcı), with notable works from Tunisia and India also making the cut.

The main jury features figures such as Derviş Zaim, Nihan Gider Işıkman and Andreas Treske, while the student films will be judged by Neslihan Semerci, Hayri Çölaşan and Emel Uzun Avcı.

Screenings will take place at the Millet Library cultural halls in Ankara, with the festival concluding on Sept. 27 at Gordion Ancient City, where an award ceremony and cultural events will be held.