SaturDox 2020

SaturDox 11th Documentary Screenings
29 February – 9 May 2020

At a time in which the governments’ oppressive practices are rising, severe human rights breaches are becoming more and more commonplace and the outlook is getting even darker around the world and in Turkey, one of the best ways to resist and become stronger is to remember similar movements of resistance that took place in different epochs and geographies. In this endeavor, noteworthy documentaries that are dedicated to preserving collective memories are important means.

In its 11th edition, Saturdox Documentary Screenings focuses on stories of those who resisted against authoritarian regimes around the world, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of 12 September 1980 military coup in Turkey. The program is composed of six notable documentaries which were acclaimed in various international festivals. We will be watching stories of resistance against authoritarian regimes and fascism from all around the world, specifically from Chile, Uruguay, Egypt, Iran, Greece, Sweden and Turkey. Also, three talks will be hosted with guest speakers about cases of Chile, Egypt and Turkey.

Resistance against military or civilian coups, impunity and fascism that is instigated through right wing, populist politics is an essential part of the struggle to remain human. As the selected documentaries demonstrate that was the case in the past, as it is in today’s circumstances. Thus, despite all acts of oppression and intimidation, a rebellious spirit is omnipresent all around the world today, stronger than ever. In order to get to know and commemorate those who shed the light while passing through such a dark tunnel, let’s meet at the 11th Saturdox Documentary Screenings!

All screenings will start at 7 pm.

PROGRAM:

29 February, Saturday

The Judge and the General
Directors: Patricio Lanfranco, Elizabeth Farnsworth
USA – Chile, 2008, 84’
Guest Speaker: Murat Çelikkan (Truth, Justice and Memory Center)

When in 1998 Chilean judge Juan Guzmán was assigned the first criminal cases against Chile’s ex-dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, no one expected much. Guzmán had supported Pinochet’s 1973 coup against the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, and had worked as a judge during Pinochet’s dictatorship. The filmmakers trace Guzmán descent into what he calls “the abyss” where he uncovers the past – including his own role in the tragedy.

14 March, Saturday (Postponed)

Kollontai, Notes on the Resistance
Director: Nicolas Mendez Casariego
Argentina, 2018, 118’

Buenos Aires, 1975. Exiled Uruguayan militants carry out an underground congress. Their objective is to form a party that goes back to Uruguay and reorganizes the resistance against the dictatorship of Bordaberry. The denominated “Campaña Alejandra” (Alejandra Campaign) would establish contact with hundreds of Uruguayans and would be one of the milestones of the resistance against dictatorships of the continent.

28 March, Saturday (Postponed)

Waves / Moug
Director: Ahmed Nour
Egypt, 2013, 71’
Guest Speaker: Fulya Atacan (Academic)

Using an artistic combination of documentary footage, archive images, animation scenes, animated characters representing the family members of the filmmaker, and his own voice-over, the director tells the story of himself and of his generation, born with the birth of Mubarak’s rule in the early 80s of last century, and of his forgotten home city, Suez, the famous city of the Suez canal that triggered the revolution to the extent of becoming known as “The flame of the Egyptian revolution”.

11 April, Saturday

Those Who Said No
Director: Nima Sarvestani
Sweden-Germany, 2014, 90’

After decades of silence survivors and relatives of the victims of a mass atrocity establish a People’s Court. They will testify against a crime carried out by the Iranian regime, a crime that has been kept secret from the public for more than 25 years. Those responsible for these crimes now hold high government offices in Iran. Their secret would be safe, if it was not for the efforts of some survivors. In 2013 an international tribunal, the Iran Tribunal, is convened in The Hague Court of Justice. Now is their chance to put Iran on trial for their crimes against humanity. “Those Who Said No” is a film about people who refuse to be silenced, people who fight for the right to tell their story in court.

25 April, Saturday

The Antifascists
Directors: Patrik Öberg, Emil Ramos
Sweden, 2017, 75’

A low intense war is being fought on the streets of Europe and the aim is on fascism. This documentary takes us behind the masks of the militant groups called antifascists. In 2013 a group of armed national socialists attack a peaceful demonstration in Stockholm where several people are injured. In Greece the neo-nazi party Golden Dawn becomes the third largest in the election and in Malmö the activist Showan Shattak and his friends are attacked by a group of nazis with knives and he ends up in a coma.
In this portrait of the antifascists in Greece and Sweden we get to meet key figures who explain their view on their radical politics, but also to question the level their own violence and militancy.

9 May, Saturday

Turkey on the Edge
Director: İmre Azem
Turkey, 2015, 53’
Guest speaker: İsmet Akça (Academic)

Turkey has gone through major political and social changes in the four years since the Gezi Park protests in June 2013. Director Imre Azem tells the story of this transformation through the failed coup attempt of 15 July 2016, the state-of-emergency that follows, and the recent constitutional referendum of 16 April 2017 through four characters who have been at the forefront of the democratic struggle: right to-the-city activist Deniz Özgür; Mücella Yapıcı from the Chamber of Architects also known as the “Mother of Gezi”; Fatih Polat, the editor-in-chief of the Evrensel daily; and Gül Köksal, one of the first “Academics for Peace” to be fired by government decree.