We have all had that special documentary that left a mark in our childhood, that we eagerly and curiously watched, eyes glued to the screen. Maybe it was Captain Cousteau, the Silk Road or some other remarkable piece…

Regardless of their name or content, documentaries have expanded our horizons and opened for us the doors to other worlds. They contributed to our collective memory.
When there was only one state-run channel as the public broadcaster, TRT served as the medium that introduced documentaries to our nation.

It was not only an introduction, TRT -as in many other fields- led the curve in documentary field and created its own experience and staff as part of a deliberate policy.
With the right use of this experience, documentary films could and should play a role that would help modern day people rediscover the joy of knowledge and learning. That’s how the idea of organizing a Documentary Competition was born at TRT. The goal was to encourage the development of creative methods in documentary films and to bring the “products” to viewers.

1605 documentary films, 1397 of them in the international category, from 101 countries took part in the 11. edition of International TRT Documentary Awards, which was launched on a national scale in 2009 and brought to international scale in 2010, with 232 films from 40 countries participating in the annual event.
In the post-competition period, we aired award winning documentaries on different TRT channels.

“TRT International Documentary Days” activities, which we hold every year in İstanbul, bring together documentary filmmakers from around the world. During Documentary Days, we are given the opportunity to watch theatre screenings of finalist films, award winning documentaries and TRT's own documentaries, as well as colloquies, concerts and the Gala Night, where winners are presented with their awards. It gives us a great pleasure to see that TRT International Documentary Days evolved into a documentary festival that have become a habit for documentary lovers.

Having incorporated TRT's Documentary Academy and new partners this year, the 13th TRT International Documentary Days moves towards becoming a more visionary festival on an international scale. Featuring contests, special selection documentaries, screenings, exhibitions, workshops, colloquies and panels, the Festival remains among prestigious festivals on both national and international levels.