Best Turkish documentary movies

A profile of Istanbul and its unique people, seen through the eyes of the most mysterious and beloved animal humans have ever known, the Cat.

The funny little details of everyday life, simple things that make us laugh. An unforgettable performance from Cem Yilmaz. Yilmaz captures the audience with his hilarious stories about relationships, humankind's struggle with the technology and professional life. Yilmaz proves us that a food delivery or even a funeral might be amusing when considered correctly. Written by Elmalma Brand Communication

In an irreverent but heartfelt stand-up show, Turkish comedian Cem Yılmaz shares stories about childhood, social media and Turks on holiday abroad.

Experience the bustle of Istanbul street life through the eyes of three stray dogs – Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal.

One year in the life of a Turkish teacher, teaching the Turkish language to Kurdish children in a remote village in Turkey. The children can't speak Turkish, the teacher can't speak Kurdish and is forced to become an exile in his own country. On the Way to School is a film about a Turkish teacher who is alone in a village as an authority of the state, and about his interaction with the Kurdish children who have to learn Turkish. The film witnesses the communication problem emphasizing the loneliness of a teacher in a different community and culture; and the changes brought up by his presence into this different community during one year. The film chronicles one school year, starting from September 2007 until the departure of the teacher for summer holiday in June 2008. During this period, they begin to know and understand each other mutually and slowly.

Metin Akpınar has not been on the theater stage since 1992. In addition to TV series and movies, new generations were able to meet him with Devekuşu Kabare's six plays that could be recorded. As if it was written today, those who watched had a taste of his unique acting in current plays. It was an acting that accompanied his talent and his intellectual background. "I'm Glad I Did", when transferring through the years Metin Akpinar he brought his own narrative, on the other hand, offers a different approach to Turkey's recent history, leaving an archive for the future by refreshing memory.

Fundamentals (2013) Extras

Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits" tells the story of Istanbul and other Mega-Cities on a neo-liberal course to destruction. It follows the story of a migrant family from the demolition of their neighborhood to their on-going struggle for housing rights. The film takes a look at the city on a macro level and through the eyes of experts, going from the tops of mushrooming skyscrapers to the depths of the railway tunnel under the Bosphorous strait; from the historic neighborhoods in the south to the forests in the north; from isolated islands of poverty to the villas of the rich. It's an Istanbul going from 15 million to 30 million. It's an Istanbul going from 2 million cars to 8 million. It's the Istanbul of the future that will soon engulf the entire region. It's an Istanbul nobody has ever seen before.

A thorough look at the 90's Turkish rock scene, one legendary stage band and its two members: Kerim Capli and Yavuz Cetin... An inquiry of their existential battles with the society, the industry and their own minds.

Arda Turan shares the most intimate details of his well-known personal life, starting on the streets of Bayrampaşa and leading up to Ali Sami Yen, Vicente Calderon and finally to Camp Nou.

What happens when your child comes out to you? In this feature documentary, parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender individuals in Turkey intimately share their experiences with the viewer, as they redefine what it means to be parents in this conservative society.

From the famous Turkish journalist, Can Dündar narrates the last 300 days of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The documentary features the stories and mails from the friends of Atatürk who is the founder of Turkish Republic and also led the Turkish army in the Turkish War of Independence

Filmed on location in the West Bank in the immediate aftermath of the Gaza genocide that began on October 7, this documentary sheds light on the alleged support provided by the Israeli state and army to radical groups. Through the perspectives of both perpetrators and witnesses, it recounts the terror and land theft carried out by radical illegal settlers against Palestinians.

A legendary team that still holds the Süper Lig records for wins, points, and goals. The story of Fenerbahçe's unforgettable 1988-89 season... In this four-part documentary, the heroes of that success tell the story themselves.

A transgender man struggles with self-realization and acceptance in traditional society of Turkey. Constrained by identification cards color-coded for gender, will he finally be considered for a Blue ID?

Passionate fans, a city that lives on football; a stormy story of joy, sorrow and enthusiasm from the past to the future… "The Colors of the Game: Living with the Storm" looks at the championship of Trabzonspor, which came after years, through the eyes of the city and its people...

This is the glorious story of the Hittites - the most powerful people in the Near East of their time. Narrated by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons, "The Hittites" brings the fascinating history of this mighty empire to life with expert interviews, stunning cinematography, dramatic reenactments, and visual effects. Highlights include a breathtaking recreation of the controversial battle of Kadesh that decimated the armies of Egypt's Pharaoh Ramesses II. Based on the actual words of the Hittites, deciphered from ancient clay tablets excavated in the 20th century, their story unfolds as beautifully as it written almost 3500 years earlier.

Reflects life, longings and a major “fear” in the subconscious of a 12-years old “woodcutter” girl living under very hard conditions in the forest of Toros Mountains at an altitude of approximately 2000 m. The documentary, aiming to symbolize a little-known but common practice of child labour, accomplishes a dramatic portrayal of laborers who work for Ministery of Forestry totally deprived of social security.

This semi scripted documentary hosted by Gokhan Ozoguz revolves around the issue of water crisis. In a near future, Istanbul will be on the verge of a water crisis, and if the people of 2019 refuse to change their habits, that future is very dark.

Shakespeare's 'King Lear' travelling on the dusty and risky roads to the remotest forgotten villages in the mountains of Turkey where even drinking water can hardly reach, turns delicately into 'Queen Lear' in the hands of a peasant-women theatre group. In the early 2000s, a handful of peasant women from the mountains of southern Turkey formed a theater group, which later became the subject of the documentary, The Play. The women acted out their own life stories in the village, and the play changed their lives. Now, they take to the road with an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, traveling the dusty, dangerous roads to the farthest-flung mountain villages where there isn't even running water. On the road, their lives merge with the world of King Lear and become bound up with "the good and the bad", "the young and the old", "the rich and the poor", "the honest and the dishonest" of the play.

Although they are in their early forties, twin brothers Tayfun and Taykan, who live in a nursing home, are passionately devoted to music. The twins, who call their musical group "Glassy Stares", isolate themselves from life and spend their time writing lyrics and composing. Glassy Stares; an ecstatic insight into the truth in the mists of schizophrenia; knotting the bond with reality with guitar strings; It is a story of brotherhood in which the subjects are mixed with praise and the transformation into music by going beyond making music.

This is a documentary about a passionate collector. A man who has been collecting for 70 years, collecting everything one can imagine. A man who lives in his own house like a guest of his collections. A man who tries to freeze time, as if to hold on to present. In this documentary, you will follow this passionate collector through the vivid streets of Istanbul, among the crowd, in search of new collection items while trying to understand his perception of life and collection.

Biographical trans documentary film in which Iris Mozalar, a young artist, shares her diversity of being a bisexual transgender woman, the process of creating herself and her reflections against society.

Bakur (North) is a documentary that invites its audience to reflect on a war that has been continuing for decades and gives an insightful look on its main subject, the PKK. The film follows the lives of the guerilla in three different camps on the Kurdish region (north) that lies within Turkish borders.

Before 1950, Istanbul Greeks made up half of Istiklal Street. It all began on the 6th of September 1955, with a nighttime pogrom. Thirty years later, out of 150,000 Istanbul-Greeks, only 2,000 remained. What kind of life was it – for a member of a minority – and how is it today? “The worst thing is to hide your identity,” says one of those who have remained. “Nobody was concerned about us, neither Greece nor Europe!” Many Istanbul-Greeks now live in Greece. But not all are happy there. “Istanbul is not a city, it’s a life!” says one of them. Some Istanbul-Greeks of the Diaspora still want to return to their hometown.

The story of the rock and metal music scene in the '80s and '90s in Ankara, the capital of Turkey -- the city which is deemed to be 'gray', considered as 'lifeless', 'soulless' and 'dull', and labeled as a 'city of politics' -- and a band's attempts to get out of it despite their love of their hometown.

Stories straight from the horse's mouth about their own lives and perspective on daily life in Adana, sincity of Turkey.

The life of legendary writer Yaşar Kemal is depicted through his words and those of close friends. Using unpublished footage, audio, and documents, the film portrays his epic journey, literature, and worldview.

A musical journey among exotic places and people of Anatolia, unique host of ancient civilizations of 10 millennia. The authentic performances recorded live on location spontaneously. With the modern arrangements made, an incomparable musical is formed. Director: Nezih Unen

A documentary of Turkish political history about multi-party period, Democrat Party government and the coup d'etat of 27th May. Including eye-witness interviews with journalists, officers, politicians and family members.

Colony is a film about psychogeography, the memory of landscape, trauma and remembrance.

This story is about a beggar, a thief, and a child working on the street, a paper garbage collector, a leftist, a Muslim, a father, and a second-hand book dealer… Oktay Çetinkaya, full of life, tells us the stories of back streets, ghosts with whom he shared his own history, living as one of them.

One of the greatest tragedies of the modern era happened in 2020. As a result of the global measures taken against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games, which was to be held in Tokyo, was delayed for the first time in its history. In one hundred years, only three gymnasts had been able to represent Turkey in gymnastics, however, this is about to change; İbrahim, Ahmet, Ferhat and Nazlı qualify for Tokyo Olympics but find themselves in a challenging uncertainty. They are stuck at home for 3 months and Ahmet feels devastated, Ferhat is more concentrated on his goal, İbrahim tries to find the power to fight his injury, Nazlı is out of shape and Adem is ambitious to get qualified. They find motivation once again and go through the leap year with victories, losses, injuries, natural disasters and quarantine to get one step closer to the highest success attainable by an athlete.

Written and directed by Ali Taner Baltacı, this 40-minute production brings Atatürk and other important figures of Turkish political history to the screen.

The documentary is titled after Arkadaş Z. Özger’s poem “Hello My Dear” which had caused much controversy in the period it was first published. Considered to be in defiance of heteronormativity, the said poem includes references to the poet’s personality, his family, his relationship to the society, and his “unexpected” death, which came three years after its publication. Today, 50 years after it was written, the documentary follows these same lines in the poem utilising cinematic elements. The documentary also rediscovers the poetics; reaches out to the family, the comrades, the friendships, departing from the official historical accounts, cognizant of his experience of otherness, in pursuit of the “lost” portrait of Arkadaş Z. Özger.

Waifs, homeless, derelicts, almsmen, others, forgettens, outcasts, unwanteds. The Hotel of Waifs; a temporary resting place far from home, an amusement in a pale fun fair, an enthusiastic trip on roundabout ways of soul.

What kind of a person was Ahmet Kaya? What kind of music did he compose? How did he become a controversial pop icon? What did he think and say about homeland, democracy, human rights and Kurdish reality? and what did we do to him?

Throughout his impressive acting career, Haldun Dormen inspired and encouraged his theater students to work hard and follow their dreams.

A documentary exploring the condition, evolution and interaction of Turkish jazz music and its musicians, in parallel to Turkish history.

Tevfik Esenç is the last man on earth to speak Ubykh. Years later, his granddaughter and the film’s co-director, Burcu Esenç, travelled to Sorbonne University and the College de France in Paris, to Oslo University and the Caucasus to unearth this lost language.

Every year, a Kurdish family leaves Gaziantep (Anatolia) to work on the land near Ankara. This thankless life of seasonal labor turns upside down when the eldest son falls in love.

The documentary film, which tells the story of Görkem, a young wrestler living in Edirne, and his preparation for the Kırkpınar oil wrestling, sheds light on the competition, ambitions and lives of child wrestlers by touching on Kırkpınar traditions. Focusing on Görkem's family and sports life, it reveals his struggle for the championship within the framework of oil wrestling, the sport of valor and bravery.

Can a documentary save a fish species from extinction?

"Çiftlikbank" went down in history as one of Turkey's biggest fraud scandal. Watch the story of Mehmet Aydin, nicknamed "Tosuncuk", the name behind this scandal, and the impact of the great emphasis through the eyes of 140journos.

A woman’s voyage of discovery into the audiovisual shadows of a life and oeuvre of her favourite director: Turkish grandmaster Ömer Kavur. While the journey continues in abandoned towns, ruins and deserted hotels; an imaginary dialogue begins between the woman and Kavur.

Gulyabani is an entity, a ghoul, an outsider. She’s the restless spirit of a desolate and lonely place. Fethiye Sessiz, a notorious clairvoyant from Izmir in 1970s and 1980s, remembers fractions of her survival from abuse, kidnappings and violence. Recounting the events of her childhood through her diary and letters to her estranged son, Gulyabani recollects the emotional landscape in the most violent period of post-Republic Turkey, where the memory of the future and fragments of the past come together at once.

Laborers of the film industry have decided to march against the new censorship act in 1977. 60 years of silence in cinema was going to be interrupted for good. From actor/actresses to set workers, 400 women and men have started a 5-day-long walk to Ankara. A walk that was conceived with supportive but surprised looks of the public. The documentary tries to picture this forgotten but historical event in the light of the 100th year of cinema.

The documentary features the journey of the Voltrans initiative, a solidarity platform for trans men in Turkey.

The heroes of the Turkish National Team, which fascinated the whole world with their legendary comebacks in the 2008 European Cup, tell those days in their own mouth.

A documentary about the filming session of the film “The Wild Pear Tree” by Nuri Bilge Ceylan… ‘The Wild Pear Tree’ had been shot in about 14 weeks in Western Anatolia.

When nine peasant women from a mountain village in southern Turkey decide to write and perform a play based on their life stories, aspects of their personalities emerge that they never knew existed. Esmer's documentary observes the creative stages leading up to the production of the play, and shows us how nine subtly but significantly different women emerge after its staging.

Eager in spirit for a better world, an amateur rock band from bohemian Istanbul embarks on an impromptu tour to mainland Turkey, in hopes of sharing their music and love with fellow countrymen.

Eight-year-old Evlin characterizes the resilience of Kobane's resistance against ISIS forces through her experience in a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border.

The story of rivalry between two forms of winter transport: the horse-drawn sleigh which can take the short cut over the frozen lake and the red minibus which needs to be more devious to beat its rival. While the race goes on other tales of intransigence are told in this land of bards and minstrels.

This film tells the struggle of Armenian families migrated to Turkey/Istanbul who try to provide education for their children despite all the circumstances. In the core of this struggle, which started in 2003, there stands a dining hall centered school, located in a basement of a church where migrant children receive education from volunteer educators. During the film, the struggle of children living in a foreign land, their daily lives, their former habits and longings are told through the eyes of migrant children.

The film reflects on the nature of vacation, as it is a transformed version of reality, the fantastical counterpart to winter.

After being released from prison, Müslüm will fulfill his dedication and sacrifice his 2.5-month-old son to God by cutting the throat of him.