Sabanci Foundation Turns The Problems Of Refugee Women Into Screenplays Through The “Short Film Competition”

“We should go beyond just sharing the pain and suffering of refugee women”

Starting off her speech by saying that Sabancı Foundation had always been in support of efforts contributing to social development and improvement in Turkey, Güler Sabanci said, “At Sabanci Foundation, there is an issue that we have been focusing on, working on and been the spokesperson of for 10 years. The issue is to ensure that girls continue with their education until a minimum age of 18 and to prevent early and forced marriages. Witnessing our efforts to this end, dear Sezen Aksu gave us a gift. Written and composed by Sezen Aksu and performed by Sertab Erener, the song ‘Kız Leyla’ and the ensuing video clip made a huge impact. This has been an inspiration to us.”

Sabanci concluded her remarks, saying, “We should go beyond just sharing the pain and suffering of refugee women. Women and children make up 70% of the world’s refugee population. Immediate action is required to ensure that not only refugee women but all women are protected and enjoy equal human rights. We need to work hard to raise awareness continuously on the matter in order to make sure women’s problems are understood by everyone.The main aim of the Short Film Competition is to get the attention of artists to the matter. As the number of such projects increases, people from all walks of life will have a better understanding of the issue and we will contribute to always keeping the issue on the agenda to produce more remedies. In this regard, we have full faith in young artists, their expressive power and creativity.”

GülerSabanci invited all art lovers to the competition, quoting the message of Reza Deghati, the opinion leader for the competition: “Refugee women are history’s silent heroes. Please join us to give them a voice.”

“It is still women who shoulder the burden of being a refugee”

Sharing the details about the Short Film Competition, Zerrin Koyunsagan, Sabanci Foundation General Manager, said, “To have solidarity and peace in the society, it is first necessary to be aware of our problems and rights, and to contribute to the solution of such problems if we can. We need efficient tools to raise such awareness. Using the impact of cinema, we set off to focus attention on social issues and find solutions. In this year’s competition, we wanted to encourage people to think more seriously, be aware and assume responsibility on the problems of refugee women.”

Underlining the fact that there are 3.2 million registered refugees from Syria and other countries in Turkey, Koyunsagan said, “Women and children make up two thirds of this population. We can also see that it is still women who shoulder the burden of being a refugee. There is a huge need for all efforts, even if a small contribution, on the matter. We believe the Short Film Competition will contribute significantly to making the refugee issue visible. We also want to facilitate the emergence of new artists. Another aim we have is to take our competition to international platforms and ensure that social issues and their solutions are included on the agenda on those platforms.”

Deadline for applications is December 5

The Short Film Competition will accept applications until December 5, 2016. The applicants are expected to adopt a unique and original perspective to tell about the problems of refugee women in a maximum of 5 minutes. The Jury will make the evaluation for the 3 works qualifying for a prize.

At least the director (owner of the work) and/or the producer of the work submitted to the Competition must be a citizen of the Republic of Turkey or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One person can apply to the Competition with more than one film. The films to enter the competition should not have been screened anywhere else before and awarded a prize. The owners of the works should not have any feature-length films shot until now.

Among the works that best present the refugee women’s issues, match the criteria, and qualify as a catchy and creative effort, the winner will receive a prize of TRY 15 thousand while the runner-up will be given TRY 10 thousand and the third TRY 5 thousand. In January 2017, the works making it to the final will be announced on the web site www.kisafilmplatformu.org and the awards will be delivered to winners during the gala night.