The Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye organizes the EU Human Rights Short Film Competition and Film Days every year to mark the Human Rights Day, December 10th.  The Competition accepts submissions of 3-10-minute human rights-themed films of all genres and techniques until November every year, while the Film Days take place in the first half of December every year.

This year which marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the EU Human Rights Short Film Competition and EU Human Rights Film Days celebrate its 13th year.

This year, the Short Film Competition received 235 submissions, the highest number of submissions ever.  The winners will be selected from among the 20 finalists* announced on Friday, December 1st, by Actress Selen Uçer, Director and Screenwriter Özcan Alper, Prof. Dr. Asker Kartarı, Journalist, TV Presenter, Moderator Afşin Yurdakul and Human Rights Defender, Member of Citizens' Assembly and Human Rights Agenda Association Salih Erturan.  The awards will be presented in Ankara on Friday, December 8 at a ceremony that will bring together representatives of diplomatic missions, the art community, academia, civil society organizations and the media.

With the support of the diplomatic missions and cultural centers of EU member states, Film Days bring to the audience 26 short and feature European films, not yet visited the Turkish box offices, in theaters and online screenings.

All screenings will be free and open to the public;

December 7-10, 2023 at Ankara Kızılay Büyülü Fener Cinema,

December 14-17, 2023 at Istanbul Kadıköy Caddebostan Cultural Center

and on the Festival Scope website on December 8-17.

All films will be screened with Turkish and English subtitles and Turkish detailed subtitles.

The screenings will be followed by discussions and director interviews on the online screening platform.

On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the EU Delegation to Türkiye invites all fim lovers to think and share through the medium of art on the inalienable and non-transferable human rights set forth by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with the slogan #StandUp4HumanRights !

• 13th EU Human Rights Film Days web site 
• 13th EU Human Rights Film Days Screening Programme
• 13th EU Human Rights Film Days Catalogue
• 13th EU Human Rights Film Days online screening platform 

*Finalists selected, time for awards!

Members of the pre-selection jury of the 13th European Union Human Rights Short Film Competition, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Remziye Köse Özelçi, Dr. Ali Çağıl Ömerbaş and World Cinema Coordinator at the Ankara Film Festival Deniz Berberoğlu, have undertaken a challenging task to select the finalists. 10 finalist short films for Human Rights Awards and 5 finalist short films for Gender Equality and Climate Crisis Special Awards were selected.  

Human Rights Finalists

“36” Rezan Uğurlu

“Labirent/The Maze” Selçuk Ören

“Ayakkabı/Shoes” Sertaç Bozkurt

“Kırlangıç/Swallows” Hüseyin Demirtaş

“30 Yıl Bir Gece/30 Years One Night” Mehmet İsmail Çeçen

“Bavul/Suitcase” Yener Akbaba

“Soru/The Question” Mert Hüroğlu

“Fısıltı/Whisper” Mehmet Onur Kaya

“Magus Baba’nın Mavi Maymunu/The Blue Monkey of Magus Baba” Rümeysa Bora

Gender Equality Finalists

“Pamuk Prenses ve Cüce/Snow White and Dwarf” Bora Yavuz Subaşı

“Çember/Circle” Ferhat Ertan

“Ben Sen O Biz Siz Onlar/I You He She We You They” Sevin Yaman

“Çarşaf/Niqab” Batuhan Çelik

“Artı/Plus” Cem Onur Tunca

Climate Crisis Finalists

“Antroposen'in Reddi: Kent Tarımı/Refusing The Anthropocene: An Anectode on Urban Agriculture ” Uğur Cuya

“Zaman Yolcusu Kreta/Kreta the Time Traveller1 Ilgın Saçan, Gülşah Özdemir

“Kefaret/Penance” Mahmut Kemal

“The Invisible Plane” Eylem Tok

“Stoppani” Rezan Uğurlu

The final jury members, Actress Selen Uçer, Director and Screenwriter Özcan Alper, Prof. Dr. Asker Kartarı, Journalist, TV Presenter, Moderator Afşin Yurdakul and Human Rights Defender, Member of Citizens' Assembly and Human Rights Agenda Association Salih Erturan, will evaluate the 20 finalist films and select the award winners.  

The winners of the 13th EU Human Rights Short Film Competition will receive their awards from the esteemed Jury Members at an Award Ceremony in Ankara on December 8.