THE ATELIER

Film, 18’44”, 2018

The Atelier is the story of how simple pieces of fabric are transformed into sacred symbols through technical processes. The film takes the viewer to a flag manufacturing workshop in Istanbul, introducing its owners and workers. The major upheavals taking place in the region—war, coups, migration—directly shape the workings of the workshop and the lives of those who work there.
In his famous militarist poem, Mithat Cemal Kuntay writes:
“What makes a flag a flag is the blood upon it.”
Yet in this workshop producing this sacred symbol, the flags are made by Syrian migrant workers who have fled the war.

* * *

SOLO EXHIBITION:
· The Atelier, Protocinema at Proyecto AMIL, Lima

GROUP EXHIBITION:
· Open Space, Parallel Vienna, Vienna

SCREENING:
· The Atelier, DEPO, Istanbul
· Where the Sun Rises, Swiss Art Institute, New York
· 37th Torino Film Festival, Torino
· Public Screening, Shanghai
· DAI – Planetary Campus: The Kitchen, Silent Green Kulturquartier, Berlin

SHORTLISTED:
· LOOP Discover, Barcelona

Project Assistant:
Deniz Edemir

Commisioned by Protocinema – www.protocinema.org
With support from SAHA – www.saha.org.tr

English Translation:
Payan Ece Özçetin

Spanish Translation:
Daniela Moscoso
EDU Translation