‘Just a Fist’ wins best screenplay at Turkey’s Göbeklitepe festival
Iranian short film ‘Just a Fist’ won the Best Screenplay Award at the fourth Göbeklitepe International Film Festival in Şanlıurfa, southern Turkey, festival organizers said, marking a regional breakthrough for independent Iranian cinema rooted in social storytelling.
Written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Mostafa Yeganeh, the film prevailed in the international competition as the festival wrapped up in the historic Anatolian city, which hosts the UNESCO-listed Göbeklitepe archaeological site, ILNA reported.
The jury cited the work’s disciplined narrative architecture, humane characterization and socially alert perspective.
The festival, named after one of the world’s oldest known ritual sites, has positioned itself as a fast-rising cultural platform linking cinema with ancient heritage, cultural identity and cross-border dialogue.
Its curators aim to brand Şanlıurfa as a regional cultural and cinematic hub, leveraging the city’s deep historical capital to attract filmmakers working in arthouse, independent and documentary formats.
‘Just a Fist’ centers on a detainee being escorted to court by a soldier along with the evidence of an alleged crime. During the journey, the accused makes an unusual request that disrupts the expected trajectory of events, steering the story towards a morally charged and socially resonant turn.