ISLAMABAD  -  The Turkiye Radio and Television (TRT) Humanitarian Film Festival was organised to shed light on glob­al humanitarian issues providing an essential platform for filmmakers to address humanitarian concerns from their unique perspectives. This marked the festival’s fifth year and during the event, organised by Turkiye Radio and Television (TRT) in Istanbul, the participants engaged in in-depth discussions on significant topics including war, conflict, women’s rights, the climate crisis, and more, while connecting with film producers and industry professionals. The Festival also cen­tered on other topics including mi­gration crisis, environmental pollu­tion, hunger, famine, homelessness, and poverty while emphasizing im­portance of humanity. 

The TRT Special Award at the festi­val was presented to film “Night” by Palestinian Director Ahmad Saleh. On the occasion, General Director of TRT, Mehmet Zahid Sobaci and Tür­kiye Directorate of Communications, Fahrettin Altun presented awards to the winning films at a ceremony held at the end of the Festival. Ad­dressing the ceremony, General Di­rector of TRT thanked the producers and directors for their participation and said the Festival was a result of TRT’s “human-centered” approach. “We must lift the blockade in the world’s mind,” Zahid Sobaci said and noted that they needed to bring stories of unheard cries to the world and that the TRT Special Award giv­en to the film “Night”, tells the story of the tragedy in Palestine, was a testament to TRT’s mission. Sobaci said, “Since October 7, Israel has been carrying out a comprehensive massacre against people of Gaza. They are committing atrocities with­out discrimination, targeting infants, children, women, and sick people. 

Israel has been demolishing hos­pitals, sacred places, schools, refu­gee camps, and committing crimes against humanity while the West attempts to suppress and silence conscientious citizens who take to streets in support of Gaza. 

“Our President, Recep Tayyip Erdo­gan stands in solidarity with people and cries out for justice in public squares. Using all available means to strive for peace and, through his un­wavering stance, he is upholding dig­nity of humanity,” Sobaci maintained. Emphasising the importance of TRT Humanitarian Film Festival project, Sobaci, said, “For years, imaginary heroes, supposed righteousness, and certain concepts have been produced from a single Center and presented to us as if they were a set of universal values. Now, we must lift blockade in the world’s mind. And here, the re­sponsibility lies with us, with you.” 

General Director TRT, further main­tained, “As Türkiye’s public broad­caster, we adopt a human-centered approach in all our television and ra­dio channels, digital news platforms, mobile applications, and internation­al digital platform called Tabii.” 

He expressed his pleasure in hosting the participants, who focus on humanitarian issues, and hold­ing the Humanitarian Film Festival in Türkiye.