The Turkish Summer School programme which has been organized for the ninth consequtive year and the Turkish Cinema Summer School, which has been organized for the first time this year, came to an end with a farewell dinner held.

The participants attended the farewell dinner hosted by Prof. Şeref Ateş, President of the Institute, wearing the traditional outfits of their countries, which spiced up the evening. They expressed their feelings with Turkish songs and had an unforgettable night with their performances.

Having the opportunity to examine Turkish cinema in-depth for two weeks, the farewell program saw the the young filmmakers come together with students receiving Turkish courses in different cities around Turkey for one month. Following the various cultural programme organisations, the Summer Schools programme came to an end with the award ceremony of the competitions held during their time in Turkey.

The summer school, which started on July 16th 2018, with the participation of 1000 students from 118 countries around the world, who had set their heart on learning the Turkish language, was held with the cooperation of 32 universities in 29 different cities around Turkey. The scope of the programme allowed the students an opportunity to get to know Turkey and the Turkish language through their experiences. While improving their Turkish in the leading universities of the cities in which they stayed, students also had the chance to become familiar with the historical, geographical and cultural accumulation of the different regions of Turkey and of those cities.

Moreover, the scope of the Turkish Cinema Summer School programme, which was organized by the Institute with the cooperation of İstanbul Şehir University for the first time this year, hosted people from both the cinema sector, as well as undergraduate and graduate students. The participants had the opportunity to receive an education from significant names in both cinematic history and academics, while getting to know Turkey and Turkish cinema in person, thanks to activities such as field trips, director meetings and city tours.

After the programme, which also allowed different societies from around the world to get to know each other, the participants returned to their home countries, taking with them their unique memories of Turkey and Turkish culture.