HUMAN RIGHTS AND CINEMA WITH CIVIL SOCIETY IN DIYARBAKIR
September 16 - December 26, 2012
Opening Screening: Pockets of Resistance
The ‘Human Rights and Cinema with Civil Society in Diyarbakır’ program started in Sülüklü Han on September 16, 2012, with the opening speech followed by the screening of the documentary ‘Pockets of Resistance’ by Ralf Christensen depicting the resistance stories from different continents. The film that was telling the stories of resistance from four continents including the bicycle protesters at the 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 15) held in Denmark, women graffiti artists raising their voices on their constitutional demands in Bolivia, the street theater performances by the oppressed in Nepal, and the musicians confronting the police weeks before the Tahrir protests in Egypt was screened for the second time in Turkey in Diyarbakır after its Turkey debut in !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival.
Children’s Rights
In collaboration with ÇAÇA and Migration Research Foundation, the ‘Human Rights and Cinema with Civil Society in Diyarbakır’ program continued September 21-22, 2012, with Children’s Rights theme and the screening of the documentary ‘Bridge Over the Wadi’ by Barak & Tomer Heymann on September 21 in Sümerpark Yılmaz Güney Hall. The 2016 Israeli documentary on the story of Arab and Jewish families’ establishing a conjoint school in a village for the first time portrays the different aspects of bilingual education at a school attended by around 100 children from various identities. On the second day, a selection of short films about children including a series of short films curated in collaboration with Amnesty International, IKON, and HUMAN, short films produced by the children as an output of the ‘Rightly Television Project’ of Amnesty Turkey, and Endam Acar’s short video, ‘Benim Ülkem’ (My Country), involving children’s creative works was screened in the same venue. Following the film screening, a round table discussion titled ‘Being a Child in a Conflict Environment and Alternative Approaches’ was held with the participation of the audience and civil society workers. After the round table discussion where Azize Leygara from ÇAÇA, Emin Sarıkaya from Migration Research Foundation, and Moa’taz Dajani from Al-jana, a Beirut-based civil society organization focusing its work on memory and the transition of the conflict environment, were the keynote speakers an open forum took place with the participation of the audience.
Youth and Education
The two-day program kicked off with the screening of Can Candan’s documentary film ‘3 Saat’ (3 Hours) at Sümerpak Mini Cinema on October 6, 2012. The film takes its name from the 180-minute long University Student Selection Exam in Turkey. As the film follows the lives of six university candidates residing in Istanbul among the nearly 2 million university candidates to take the exam in 2004, it aims to render the exam trauma experienced by young people visible by portraying the mass examination experience through the experiences of different characters.
On the second day, Laurent Cantet's film ""Entre les Murs"" (The Class) was screened at the Eğitim-Sen (Education and Science Workers' Union) Screening Hall. The film tells the story of François and his friends, who teach at a high school in a Paris suburb and their struggles in a class made up mostly of immigrant children aged 14-15, where different cultures and attitudes often clash. Following the film screening, a roundtable discussion titled ‘Youth Work, Education, and Organization’ was held with speakers including Hakan Korelli from Diyarbakır Branch of Education and Science Workers' Union, Hamdusena İlkbuhar from the Local Agenda 21 City Council Youth Assembly, and Devin Bahçeci from Istanbul Bilgi University's Center for Civil Society Studies (Bilgi CCSS), as well as audience members and civil society workers.
On the second day, Laurent Cantet's film ""Entre les Murs"" (The Class) was screened at the Eğitim-Sen (Education and Science Workers' Union) Screening Hall. The film tells the story of François and his friends, who teach at a high school in a Paris suburb and their struggles in a class made up mostly of immigrant children aged 14-15, where different cultures and attitudes often clash. Following the film screening, a roundtable discussion titled ‘Youth Work, Education, and Organization’ was held with speakers including Hakan Korelli from Diyarbakır Branch of Education and Science Workers' Union, Hamdusena İlkbuhar from the Local Agenda 21 City Council Youth Assembly, and Devin Bahçeci from Istanbul Bilgi University's Center for Civil Society Studies (Bilgi CCSS), as well as audience members and civil society workers.
Women and LGBT
The program kicked off with the screening of the film ‘The Kingdom of Women: Ein El Hilweh’ by Dahna Abourahme at the Sümerpark Mini Cinema October 12, 2012. The film depicts the survival stories of Palestinian refugee women after the destruction of the Ein El Hilweh refugee camp and the capture of men following Israel's occupation of Lebanon in 1982. On the second day of the program, the screening of the documentary film ‘The Pink Report’ by Ulrike Böhnisch was held. The documentary portrays the classification of homosexuality as a ‘psychosexual disorder’ in the regulations of the Turkish Armed Forces, and the difficult process that gay men face to obtain a ‘defective report,’ also known as a ‘pink report,’ as a means of exemption from military service. Following the film screening, a roundtable discussion titled ‘From Experience to Action: “Gender Trouble”’ was held with the attendance of the audience and civil society workers. The discussion brought together the experiences, actions, and representation processes in women and LGBT area, and was participated by Bilge Taş and Berfu Şeker, the directors of KuirFest, as speakers.
Human Rights and Social Justice
The program kicked off with the screening of the documentary film ‘Nostalgia for the Light’ by Patricio Guzman at the Avrupa Cinema December 7, 2012. Considered one of the most impactful documentaries in recent years worldwide, the film tells the parallel stories of astronomers seeking to find signs of life by looking up at the sky in the world's driest desert, Atacama, at an altitude of 3,000 meters in Chile, and those searching for their loved ones lost during the Pinochet regime underground. On the second day of the program, the screening of the film ‘Social Genocide’ by Fernando E. Solanas, one of the greatest directors of world cinema, was held at the Sümerpark Mini Cinema. Following the film screening, a roundtable discussion titled ‘Poverty, Deprivation, and Ongoing Social Trauma’ was held with the attendance of the audience and civil society workers, and Metin Bakkalcı from Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) and M. Şerif Camcı from the Sarmaşık Association as speakers. The discussion focused on the trauma caused by poverty and deprivation, and approaches to addressing this trauma within the framework of social justice.
Urbanization and Urban Transformation
The program kicked off with the screening of the documentary film ‘Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits’ by İmre Azem at the Diyarbakır Branch of Chamber of Architects Meeting Hall December 26, 2012. The film revealed the gradual fabrication of a system that demolishes centuries-old neighborhoods in Istanbul under the name of ‘urban transformation,’ leaving people homeless and making the city unlivable, to demonstrate the underlying dynamics and potential consequences of urbanization through offering a macro-scale view of the city, backed by animations, graphics, and original music. After the screening, a roundtable discussion titled ‘Urbanization and Urban Transformation’ was held with the attendance of the audience and civil society workers. The discussion, with speakers Mücella Yapıcı from the Chamber of Architects of Turkey Istanbul Branch and Murat Alökmen, Head of the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Planning and Urbanization Department, focused on urban transformation models and the process of urban transformation in Diyarbakır.