InstituteFestivalProfessionals
EN/NL
Donate
Loading...
MyIDFA
Ayhan and me
About IDFA
Archive
Ayhan and me
IDFA 2017

Ayhan and me

Belit Sağ
Turkey, Netherlands
2016
14 min
Festival history

For an exhibition in Istanbul, artist and activist belit sağ came up with the idea of making a video about Ayhan Çarkın, a member of a death squad responsible for murdering at least 1,000 Kurds. Çarkın became troubled by his conscience and made a public admission of guilt. This news was quickly swept under the rug, however, and the authorities had the same thing in mind for sağ’s video. So she decided to change the subject and make a study of the workings of censorship. Sağ is intrigued by the dangers that apparently lurk in images, and the indirect ways in which the Turkish authorities try to keep them out of sight. Her video essay is a razor-sharp analysis of the way censorship is internalized to become self-censorship. She examines how pieces of recent history are erased, and the process receives a veneer of good reason. Ultimately, the film is an exploration of the power of images and the tense relationship that can develop between art and state control.

Credits
Director
    Belit Sağ
    Belit Sağ
World Sales
    LIMA
    LIMA
Production
    Akbank Sanat
    Akbank Sanat
Screening copy
    LIMA
    LIMA