Pool of Dreams is our column dedicated to our friend Çiğdem Mater, who has been in prison since April 25, 2022, for a film she never made. The column showcases essays contributed by filmmakers, artists, writers, or anyone wishing to express solidarity with Çiğdem, collected through an open call. Our aim is to stand by Çiğdem by continuing to envision and dream of creating films with her, while also raising awareness of the unjust imprisonment of all the other Gezi trial prisoners, namely Osman Kavala, Can Atalay, Tayfun Kahraman and Mine Özerden.
Our filmmaker friend Çiğdem Mater, who took part in the production of many films including Majority (Çoğunluk, 2010), Sivas (2014), Dust Cloth (Toz Bezi, 2015), Human Flow (2017), and Burning Days (Kurak Günler, 2022), has been in prison since April 25, 2022. Her case was part of the Gezi Trial, and she was sentenced to 18 years in prison for allegedly making a documentary about the protests, which was actually never realized.
When we started this column in April 2024, Çiğdem had been in prison for two years. Her name is likely to go down in the history of Türkiye as the person who has been imprisoned for the longest time solely and directly due to filmmaking activities. During the trial, even the most casual filmmaking activities—such as meetings she attended or planned to attend at the Sarajevo and Yerevan Film Festivals—were interpreted as criminal. Another significant aspect of Çiğdem’s sentence is that a film that has not been made—a documentary that does not exist—was presented as evidence against her. The use of an unrealized documentary as evidence against Çiğdem exacerbates the injustice against her. This situation poses a significant threat to the future of freedom of thought and expression in cinema, endangering imagination and creativity itself.
Our aim is to ensure that no one forgets the injustice inflicted upon Çiğdem and the absurdity of the crime attributed to her. Therefore, this column is dedicated to Çiğdem to sustain awareness of her case. It is open to contributions from anyone who dreams of making films or even dreams about how films could have been different.
The following examples offer an idea of the types of articles we include in this column:
- An idea for a movie you dream of making, a movie you want to make, or a movie you might want to make (even if you don’t actually make movies and never will),
- A movie you couldn’t make or a scene of a movie you couldn’t shoot,
- A movie you wish someone would make (you wish a certain director would make a certain film),
- A movie scene that reminds you of Çiğdem,
- A scene from a movie you have seen that you would like to change (like imagining a different ending for a movie),
- Displacements, such as imagining a character in a movie differently or placing a character from one movie into another,
- A movie you saw in a dream,
- A movie that you imagine being shot by another director, in another place or time, with different actors, in another style or genre.
These examples can certainly be diversified. The most important thing for us is to continue dreaming about movies together with Çiğdem.
If you would like to contribute to the column, we kindly ask you to send an email to this address: [email protected]
The length of the articles should be approximately 2500-3000 characters (with spaces).
Articles written in English will be published in both Turkish and English.
We are looking forward to your contributions.
In solidarity,
Altyazı Cinema Association
For more detailed information about Çiğdem and other Gezi Trial prisoners, check out the article The Story Behind A Poster: A Film That Was Never Made.
