The defense of Istanbul's Gezi Park in 2013 was the apex of social and political mobilization: at the time, there were hundreds of thousands of people taking part in demonstrations, civic platforms were being formed, and grassroots practices of resistance seemed to be consolidating. The pacification of protests was just the start, however, of an offensive by the ruling AKP party: for several years, repressions against non-governmental organizations and independent media have been increasing, and Turkey has been climbing the ranks of the world’s human rights violators. In his latest film, Imre Azem (his “Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits” was shown during the 13th edition of WATCH DOCS) accompanies his Istanbul activist friends during a series of actions aimed at putting an end to the erosion of democracy: he joins them at protests against the politically motivated firing of university lecturers, travels to the Kurdish city of Diyarbakır, and follows a campaign against amendments to the constitution. The result is a direct and engaged collective portrait of Turks who are not indifferent to what is happening in their country.

-Justyna Chmielewska

Director 
Imre Azem

Country of Origin 
Germany

Language 
Turkish, German, English (English subtitles)

Year/ Length 
2017/ 52 min

Presenter 
John Perugini