Anadolu Agency - A film festival held for the first time in Istanbul is aims to enhance relations between Iran and Turkey, according to the organizer of the five-day event.

21 films, including 13 short films, four documentaries and four features were screened at the 'Turkish Films Days from Iranian Cinema'.

Ihsan Kabil, a film critic and event consultant, said Iranians generally shoot films in Persian, but they do sometimes shoot in Turkish as well.

�As Azerbaijani Turkish is a bit common in Iran, we wanted to carry a package of these films to Istanbul,� Kabil said.

�Yes, the Iranian cinema is well-known in Turkey, but these films shot in Azerbaijani Turkish are not so known,� he added.

This event is in a way a cultural exchange, he said, adding: �We want to improve cultural relations between Turkey and Iran.�

Kemal Kaptaner, head of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality�s culture department, told Anadolu Agency that the Iranian cinema was powerful around the world despite working with limited budgets, unlike Hollywood movies.

�We wanted to make an interesting event by bringing together art lovers, with films produced by Azerbaijani-origin directors especially in Tabriz, with this rich cinema culture,� Kaptaner said.

Riza Siyami, a film director and supporter of the festival, said that Iranian cinema is only known for films shot in Persian.

�The first film in Azerbaijani Turkish was shot 15 years ago. In the last two years, over 5,000 films were made in this area,� he added.

The festival is to wrap up on Tuesday with the screening of Asghar Yousefinejad�s film �The Home�.