This festival offers a rare opportunity to view contemporary documentaries and short films by emerging Turkish directors, as well as internationally produced work about subjects relevant to Turkey's cultural landscape. For the last two years, the annual Boston Turkish Festival has transformed its screenings of contemporary documentaries into a competition: the first Turkish Documentary and Short Film Competition in North America. All eligible films compete for awards that include Best Documentary Film and Best Short Film, judged by a professional jury, with festival attendees voting the Audience Award winners for Best Documentary and Best Short Film.

This program is co-presented with the 12th annual Boston Turkish Festival.