Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak attended the preparatory meeting for the 3rd International Amed Film Festival, stating that they would contribute to Amed’s cinema history with a new festival.
The Cinema Unit of the Department of Culture and Social Affairs held the preparatory meeting for the 3rd International Amed Film Festival at Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre. Aiming to enhance the city’s potential in the field of culture and arts, the meeting was attended by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak, Deputy Secretary General Zerin Türk, Head of the Department of Culture and Social Affairs Zeynep Yaş, and artists working in the fields of short film, documentary and feature film.
In her opening remarks, Co-Mayor Bucak greeted the participants and said: “We would like to thank our esteemed friends who have come from afar, from all parts of Turkey and from abroad, to be here today. I would like to thank the Department of Culture and Social Affairs, and also the volunteer friends who are present at this preparatory meeting for the festival; the friends who love the city of Amed, and who love to talk about culture and art in Amed.”
Co-Mayor Bucak: We will hold further discussions on peace-building
Referring also to the statement made yesterday by the İmralı delegation, Co-Mayor Bucak said: “Of course, meeting with you today, right after a historic call – a call for peace – which has long been needed and yearned for in Turkey, is particularly exciting. The reflections of that call will undoubtedly mark today’s discussions as well. In fact, from today onwards, all our work, in one way or another, must contribute to this call: for the formation of the essential foundations of this great call that Turkey has needed for a hundred years, for the swift establishment of its social conditions, for its greater visibility in civil society and among the people, we will carry out efforts on every front as local administrations and as a society. Undoubtedly, culture and arts will also shoulder such a responsibility. In the coming days, we will talk more about the building of peace, about discussing peace through artistic productions, and about festivals of cinema being marked by social reconciliation. Our task is harder, our responsibility is heavier, but we have the confidence and the work programme to know exactly what we must do.”
‘We regard Diyarbakır as a city of cinema’
Highlighting that film festivals increase the value of the city for filmmakers, directors and audiences alike, Co-Mayor Bucak stated that since taking office they had met frequently with cinema enthusiasts in order to realise such a film festival in the city. Co-Mayor Bucak said: “In this hall, there is no one who does not know Diyarbakır’s political and historical character. Diyarbakır is a productive city with its cinemas and its audiences. We regard it as a city of cinema.” She continued: “That is precisely why film screenings and festivals have never been absent from our city. And this applies not only to our city but also to the wider region. There are three historical carriers of this: one is the Filmamed Documentary Film Festival, the Batman Yılmaz Güney Film Festival, and the International Amed Film Festival. Of course, there have also been film days in Diyarbakır sustained for short periods by various initiatives, such as the Diyarbakır Cinema Club, and I do not wish to pass over without mentioning them here. Undoubtedly, the common and most valuable point of all these experiences is the audience. Diyarbakır has a very significant audience.”
‘During the trustee period, festivals also suffered setbacks’
Pointing out that these three festivals had strong teams, volunteers who loved cinema, and international partners, Co-Mayor Bucak said: “During the eight-year period of trustee administrations, when many things were disrupted under trustee rule, unfortunately the film festivals also suffered setbacks. We are all aware of this. In arranging today’s meeting, of course what we could do was very valuable, and knowing this gives us strength. But without doubt, when we look back at past experiences, I would like to stress that we need to work in every respect for a film festival to be held in Diyarbakır.”
‘We will talk about ensuring access to films for everyone’
Stating that they would discuss the conditions and meaning of holding an International Film Festival and the course of film festivals in Turkey over the past ten years, Co-Mayor Bucak said: “We will talk about Turkish film festivals and Kurdish film festivals, which have always been exiled in their own country and on their own soil. We will also talk about Kurdish film festivals that have been banned and censored, and about the Kurdish language. But of course, here we will witness and lay the foundations for the rebirth of an international film festival in Diyarbakır. These film festivals undoubtedly have very important goals, but one of the most important goals is to talk about how especially women, children and young people in Diyarbakır, and indeed everyone, can access good films and watch them in good conditions. We also have the goal of how to bring to light the city’s culture and arts, which have been suppressed for decades, how to unlock such a repressed potential, how to revitalise every corner of the city through cinema, and how to make the city known in this way. Of course, lastly, we also have the goal of strengthening Kurdish film productions and empowering Kurdish filmmakers who produce films in Kurdish. We have goals of access to resources and sustainability.”
Emphasising that Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality is ready to provide all its resources for the festival, Co-Mayor Bucak added: “We will be here to contribute to Amed’s cinema history with a new festival.”
Topics discussed in three sessions
Following the speech, the meeting continued in three sessions, in which the following topics were addressed: “Intercultural Bridges: Local and Universal Perspectives in International Film Festivals Abroad”; “The Past, Present and Future of Film Festivals”; “Kurdish Film Festivals from Past to Present: Opportunities, Challenges and Suggestions in the Light of Experiences”; and “Meeting Point of Experiences: Cooperation and Innovative Proposals.”
