Featuring videos from the new series of Altyazı Fasikül, Seen Unseen: An Anthology of (Auto)Censorship has been selected for the Bright Future section of the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). The Bright Future section of the festival brings together “first feature-length films with an original subject and style.” A collective inquiry into censorship and self-censorship, Seen Unseen: An Anthology of (Auto)Censorship marks the first collaboration of a group of directors who united under the Altyazı Fasikül initiative. The documentary will make its international premiere at the 54th International Rotterdam Film Festival between 30 January – 9 February 2025.
Realised through the collective efforts of eight directors, Seen Unseen: An Anthology of (Auto)Censorship consists of six videos that speak to and complement each other: Doubts (Fırat Yücel), Walls (Erhan Örs, Hakan Bozyurt and Can Memiş), Missing Documentaries (Sibil Çekmen), Dear F (Serra Akcan), Cruising (Nadir Sönmez), Sevil (belit Sağ). These videos were brought together under the artistic direction of Fırat Yücel through a collaborative process.
You can find detailed information about the six videos in the anthology on Altyazı Fasikül’s website.
Seen Unseen: An Anthology of (Auto)Censorship brings together creators from diverse fields such as cinema, photography, video, contemporary art, theatre, performance, and law. Using different techniques, tactics, and interfaces such as desktop-documentary, video-essay, photography, letters, chats, reenactment, CCTV, and online interviews; Seen Unseen: An Anthology of (Auto)Censorship delves into the vital question of filmmaking: to show or not to show.
Produced with the support of the European Union as part of the Support to Rights programme run by Hafıza Merkezi, Seen Unseen: An Anthology of (Auto)Censorship is a Netherlands/Turkey co-production by the Institute of Time and Altyazı Cinema Association. The video Doubts was created in the framework of BAK’s (basis for actuele kunst, Utrecht) Fellowship for Situated Practice programme (2023-2024).
Seen Unseen is the third video series of Altyazı Fasikül of Altyazı Cinema Association, following Looking Outside (2021) and From Below (2022). The works featured in these video series are available on Altyazı’s YouTube page, which can be accessed through the links on the Altyazı Fasikül’s website.
Seen Unseen: An Anthology of (Auto)Censorship will have its international premiere at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). The anthology had its national premiere in June 2024 during the 17th Istanbul Documentary Days at Documentarist. Following that, it was screened at Sinematek/Sinema Evi in Istanbul in September, at AVI in Izmir in November, and at Çand Amed in Diyarbakır in December.
IFFR 2025 will feature several titles from Turkey. Rezan Yeşilbaş’s film, The Flying Meatball Maker (2025), will be showcased in the Bright Future section, while Pelin Esmer’s And the Rest Will Follow (2025) will be screened in the Harbour section.
