The finalists of the Gaia Student Awards of Bozcaada International Festival of Ecological Documentary (BIFED) which will be held for the 6th time in Bozcaada between 9-13 October are announced. Four out of ten films in the final are from Turkey!

The finalists of BIFED’s Gaia Student Awards have been announced since October 2014 in Bozcaada. Organized annually every October in Bozcaada since 2014, BIFED’s Gaia Awards finalists have been announced. Apart from Fethi Kayaalp Grand Prize, the festival also awards student films every year. The festival will feature 10 documentaries for Gaia award this year.

Four of these documentaries are from Turkey, two from India, the others from France, Germany, Italy and Cuba.

FOUR DOMESTIC PRODUCTIONS AT GAIA

Two documentaries, “Mahlota” and “Requiem for Hasankeyf”, are about the 12.000-year-old Hasankeyf which will be soon flooded with the completion of the Ilısu Dam and bring the lament for the destruction of the collective memory to the cinema. “Mahlota” tells the loyalty of Meryem, the traveler, to the flooded historic city Hasankeyf.

“Requiem for Hasankeyf”, on the other hand, is about the fact that the studies that could shed light on today about the transition period of mankind to the settled life as well as the historical richness that have been left behind many civilizations will no longer be able to carried out after the city will be inundated by the floodwaters of the dam. Hasankeyf is, however, still a vivid space for people and all other creatures.

“Other Borders” is another challenging production telling the story of three friends who came to Turkey when the civil war in Afghanistan ruined their lives, and found themselves in the middle of a new struggle. On the other hand, “Among Roots” is about Turkey’s first local seed organization - Karaot Seed Association’s hard efforts to protect and sustain local seeds.

GAIA STUDENT AWARDS  ÖDÜLLERİ FİNALİSTLERİ:

1.     Dark Waves, Ismael Joffroy Chandoutis, France, 2017, 21’

2.     The Island, Lars Ostmann, Germany, 2018, 58’

3.     Rising of the Setting Sun, Julie Hössle, Italy, 2018, 52’

4.     Piraña, Nainisha Dedhia, India, 2018, 12’

5.     Village in the Sky, Ramesh Laxmanrao Holbole, India, 2018, 20’

6.     The Olden Heralds, Luis Alejandro Yero, Cuba, 2018, 23’

7.     Other Borders, Turap Başel & Ahtam İbragimov, Turkey, 2018, 16’

8.     Mahlota, Volkan Serdar, Turkey, 2018, 20’

9.     Requiem for Hasankeyf, Fırat Erez, Turkey, 2018, 10’

10.  Among Roots, Gamze Terra, Turkey, 2019, 25’

Gaia, considered as the mother of all beings in Greek mythology, is thought to have derived from the words earth and World. The Gaia Award, which has been given since the first year of the festival, is also important in the sense that it gives student productions an opportunity and opens a new platform.

This year BIFED will bring more than 50 documentaries from all over the World together with audience in Bozcaada on October 9-13 in the categories of Fethi Kayaalp Grand Award, Gaia Student Award, Panorama and Special Screening. As every year, BIFED does not charge any participation fee for the documentaries this year, as well. Moreover, doc-lovers will enjoy the autumn in Bozcaada for five days and watch documentaries free of charge.