Two films supported by Turkish public broadcaster TRT will have their world premieres at the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

One of them is "Blaga's Lessons," which will make its world premiere in the Crystal Globe Competition, the main competition section of the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Directed by acclaimed Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev and produced by Katya Trichkova, "Blaga's Lessons" is a Bulgarian-German co-production. The film previously won the TRT Award in the Work in Progress category, which focused on projects in the editing stage, at the Sarajevo Film Festival's industry section, Cinelink.

The film revolves around Blaga, a former teacher who is deceived and loses the money she had saved for her husband's grave. It offers compelling observations on the social conditions in post-communist Bulgaria.

The other one is "Gülizar," which will compete in the Work in Progress category of the festival's industry section, Eastern Promises.

"Gülizar" marked the directorial debut of Belkıs Bayrak and was selected for the 12 Punto 2021 program. The film was shot in Türkiye and Kosovo, with a production handled by Mehmet Bahadır Er, Valmira Hyseni and Belkıs Bayrak.

TRT Award

Furthermore, the festival's industry section will present the TRT Award in two separate categories: Work in Progress, focusing on projects in the editing stage and First Cut+, dedicated to projects in the post-production and distribution stages.

The "Horizons" section showcases films by prominent filmmakers on the international stage and will feature TRT co-productions that premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival's Main Competition section in May. These films include "La Chimera," "Club Zero" and Nuri Bilge Ceylan's hailed "About Dry Grasses."

TRT's collaboration with the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, initiated in 2021, continues this year, solidifying its commitment to supporting the global film industry.