Cinema Unites
July 2022 - June 2023
İZMİR
The main problem identified by this project is that although the number of non-governmental organisations in Izmir is high, their capacities are extremely limited and their activities are almost invisible and inaudible. The fact that effective visual production, which is one of the fast and efficient ways to solve this problem, is also very insufficient, complicates the situation even more. Unfortunately, the videos produced are quite weak both technically and aesthetically. Another problem is that especially rights-based Civil Society Organisaitions cannot come together to overcome these problems and start a movement together in Izmir. It is obvious that solidarity between CSOs is necessary in overcoming these problems.
The goal of the Cinema Unites project was to engage five rights-based CSOs in a discussion workshop where rights-based pursuits will be discussed together and to transform these discussions into five short creative films with the unifying force of cinema. Along with the qualifications that the participants acquired during the production of these films, the screening of them provided a forum for qualified discussion of art and politics.
Cinema Unites, which started with the first online meeting in July 2022, continued with five-session awareness workshops. The script writing workshop was followed by a script development workshop. The script development workshop was held separately for each group. After the shooting and editing workshops, the shooting of the films began. The shooting times of the films were also not equal. While some took five days, there were films that took one day to shoot.
The workshops were held with 3 facilitators and 25 participants. After the workshops, a poster and promotional film were published on social media. This film was shared on the social media accounts of the participating NGOs, as well as on the accounts of İFTYD and BAYETAV. In addition, interaction was increased with social media posts at the end of each workshop.
At the end of the project, 5 short films were made: Karşılaşma, Bul Beni, Ev Ödevi, Gelecek Şimdi, Hüznümüz İsyanımızdır. The films were screened at the French Cultural Center in İzmir in October 2023.