From August 5 to 8, 2025, the URKER International Animation Film Festival was held in Aktau, Kazakhstan, as part of the “Aktau – Cultural Capital of the Turkic World” program. The main goal of the festival was to promote the rich legacy of the prominent Kazakh scholar and mythologist Serikbol Kondybay (1968–2004) and to bring together the animation arts of Turkic world countries.
According to Tehsil365, the festival’s main competition program featured the film “Nargiz” by the renowned Azerbaijani animation director Masud Panahi. Based on the jury’s decision, the film was awarded the “TÜRKSOY Special Prize.” The award was presented by Sultan Raev, Secretary General of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TÜRKSOY), to Rashid Agamaliyev, producer of “Nargiz” and chairman of the Azerbaijan Animation Association. The prize was given in recognition of the outstanding contribution to the cultural heritage and artistic expression of the Turkic world.
The festival jury was chaired by the well-known Uzbek director Mavzur Mahmudov. Jury members included Oktay Yusibov, chairman of the Turkic Animation Association (ATA) and director of the Azerbaijani animation studio “Alove,” İsmail Fidan, director and producer of Turkey’s animated series “Rafadan Tayfa,” Kazakh social anthropologist Evfrat B. İmambek, and Kyrgyz director Kanybek Omurbekov.
In the festival’s non-competitive program, director Nazrin Agamaliyeva’s animated film “Hadith” was also presented to the audience. Held under the slogan “Animation of the New Turkic Era,” the URKER festival is expected to serve as a bridge uniting animation professionals across the Turkic world in the future.