March 8, 2020: A Memoir
15 min., Turkey/The Netherlands, 2023
Director
Fırat Yücel
Producers
Fırat Yücel, Aylin Kuryel
Editing
Fırat Yücel, Aylin Kuryel
Script & narration
Fırat Yücel, Aylin Kuryel
Memories voiced by
Begüm Özden Fırat, Pınar Öğünç
Sound design & mix
Metin Bozkurt, Fırat Yücel, Felat Erkozan
A desktop documentary/video essay about the Feminist Night March protest in Istanbul in 2020, entirely created with screen recordings of the event and its aftermath, deconstructing and repurposing touristic and surveillance images. We are on Taksim Square watching the aftermath of this last mass demonstration in the city, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Two voices reflect on what they see on the screen. A child playing with a red balloon, youngsters dancing on the street, people taking photos, Marina Abramovic’s first exhibition in Istanbul… As the narrative unfolds, images take new meaning: These are screen recordings of Istanbul municipalities’ 7/24 live and open-access ‘Touristic Cameras’ taken on the 8th of March Women’s Day 2020. This is a multi-voiced documentary attempting to find the blind spots of such images, traveling in time via screen recordings.
The full film is available on Festival Scope Pro for members.
Screenings and awards
- WORLD PREMIERE and AWARDS
- 15th Go Short - International Short Film Festival, Dutch Competition, Nijmegen, April 2023 World Premiere
- 42nd Istanbul Film Festival, National Short Film Competition, April 2023 FIPRESCI Prize
- 7th Beijing International Short Film Festival, December 2023 - Asia Premiere Best International Film
- Festival Panòptic, May 2024 Best Short Film
- 24th Izmir Kısa Film Festival, November 2023 Special Prize of the Jury - Experimental
- İTF Short Film Days, May 2024 Best Documentary
- 30th İFSAK Short Film Festival, March 2024 Special Mention
- SİYAD - Turkish Film Critics Association Awards, Best Short Documentary 2024
- 16th Leiden Shorts, National Competition, Leiden, June 2023
- 25th The Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival, Ankara, June 2023
- FENDA Experimental Festival of Film Arts, Belo Horizonte, June 2023
- FESTIVAL ECRÃ, June 2023, Rio de Janeiro
- 6th Ravno Selo Film Festival, June 2023
- 22nd Dokufest, Balkan Dox Competition, Prizren, August 2023
- 14th MakeDox, International Short Film Competition, Skopje, August 2023
- 2nd Ayvalık Film Festival, September 2023
- PerSo – Perugia Social Film Festival, October 2023
- 14th Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival, Queensland, October 2023 - Australia Premiere
- 40th Kasseler Dokfest, Kassel, November 2023
- 15th Short Waves, Poznań, November 2023
- 21th FISDN, International Festival Signs of the Night, International Competition, Paris & Berlin, October 2023
- Festival Fotogenia 5, Mexico City, November 2023 - North America Premiere
- 1st Sanat Dünyamız Film Days, Istanbul, February 2024
- Pera Museum, online screening on International Women's Day, March 2024
- 35th Türkische Filmtage München, April 2024
- 14th Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF), May 2024
- OTHER SCREENINGS