In the world where nature melts from day to day, people are degenerated and consumption increases unconsciously, we continue to bury our heads in the sand and compete with each other in insensitivity to the upcoming ecological disasters. Which option is better, i don’t know in this cycle: Saying “may the good win” or questioning the intelligence of a species devoted to destroying its own future and stealing nature to save the day.
While going to the BIFED event, I travelled with this anger in me. “Bozcaada International Ecological Documentary Festival” , which was held for the 5th time, met with its audience as 11 documentaries in the International Competition area, 7 in the Gaia Student Award, 30 in Panaroma and 1 in Special Screening between October 10-14.
The festival is completely free and as much as you have time from this documentary, watching as much as you want and strengthening the link between the participation of the director and the audience at the end of some films have been important steps in the field of application.
Although the festival started on Wednesday, October 10, I was able to attend and accompany 8 films from October 12, since i was busy. Although the documentaries were independent and low-budget, they could make people think and question many issues. Health and refugee themes were often touched when it comes to the environment. Among the films I have watched, the movie I liked more than others was the production of “Stare Into The Lights Pretties” in 2017, directed by Jordan Brown.
In this movie, it was told how to be addicted people to smartphones, tablets, computers and the internet environment and what the consequences of them are. The film was very impressive for me. Brown said that this addiction causes serious problems in understanding what people are reading. As well, i can say that I encountered the practices that support this view in my daily life. Common problems met are; There was frequent distraction and less comprehension of readings when compared to the previous time period.
I can really say that I heard this reproach from many people. Time spent on the screens for a long time can cause serious erosions in the ability of people to understand.
Another film was the documentary called “I Am In Love With My Car“, the song of the legendary band Queen, directed by Michele Mellara & Alessandro Rossi. In this production, how the vehicles change the human life is explained by connecting with the effects on our 5 sense organs. It had a good expression language to see cars change our perception of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. Of course, the key here is also to see the environmental damage of cars.
Another film was the 2015 production “I Am Chut Wutty,” directed by Fran Lambrick and Vanessa de Smet. Chut Wutty is an environmental activist killed in Cambodia… The story of a hero who resisted to the Cambodian government and businessmen against destruction on forests in the region from…
In the interview with Vanessa de Smet, she said that the purpose of the documentary was to shed light on the forest massacre in Cambodia, however, nearly half of documentry was complated while Chut Wutty was killed next to Vanessa. Especially giving information that 4 environmental activists were killed every week was a serious devastating effect for me. These people pay the price of protecting the environment from people. So what for? It is not possible to understand how it is to make instant monetary profit at the expense of drying its resources forever.
Of course, I had the opportunity to meet very nice people during this event. I am sending my greetings to person whose name was Uyanış who worked in “Public Education Center” but I will not forget its name. I think two persons who came to the event with a tent were me and Ekin Doğa or we didn’t know anyone else. Although we were worried that our tents would fly, the wind was on our side. After all, we came to the activity for the environment.
From left to right: Caner Tiryaki, Nevra Arslantürk, Fatma Munzur, Alper Tolga Akkuş, Ömer Madra, Ekin Doğa Kozak
Speaking of Bozcaada, we shouldn’t miss the wines … I remind those who will go to Bozcaada: Taste the wines.
It was a beneficial weekend event showing environmental problems. Greetings to those organizing the event, apart from some minor problems. I hope to see environment-friendly people for next time as well. After all, we have a single world that we live in. Stay with the environment .
