The screening of the film ‘Voices and Faces’ was held in Şırnak.

The screening of the documentary film “Voices and Faces” that tells the drama of the Diyarbakır mothers, who have been holding a sit-in in Diyarbakır for 6 years for their children kidnapped to the mountains, received great interest in Şırnak.

The screening of the film, which focuses on the Diyarbakır mothers holding a sit-in in front of the former HDP provincial building for their children kidnapped to the mountains, was held at the Teacher’s House Conference Hall, hosted by the Şırnak Governorship. Şırnak Governor Cevdet Atay, in his speech after the screening, stated that he found this documentary very meaningful and congratulated everyone who contributed to it. Governor Atay said, “We have experienced the pain and suffering of the people of the region even when we were not here. In the events that occurred, a separate fire fell in the hearts of all of us as our martyrs came. The citizens living here and our families have responsibilities to ensure that our martyrs do not come to this homeland again. Everyone will fully support their children. Here, with the encouragement of our state, a social structure has emerged by encouraging those people. And I want to say that it is going very well. How do we view this event? From the experiences, you look from there, what needs to be done so that these events do not happen again? There are duties that fall on the state, on us, and on everyone in society. I congratulate you on this documentary. It truly was a beautiful and impactful screening, and I congratulate everyone who contributed once again,” he said.

The producer of the film and AK Party MKYK member Orhan Miroğlu stated that he traveled around cities to listen to the stories of the mothers and included interviews with about 100 mothers, saying, “Perhaps the biggest dilemma of us Eastern societies is that our stories, what we have lived, have been written by others for centuries. The stories belong to us, the pains belong to us, but unfortunately, the recognition of these pains, the commonality of these pains, and even the invitation to this is almost all of the important artistic products do not belong to us. The esteemed governor said something nice while watching the documentary. He said this is a very impressive documentary. It actually needs to be shown in schools too. This was a great scenario. There were reenactments in this scenario. We said let this be a beginning. But in the next stages, we have 100 interviews. 100 interviews is an incredible thing. 30-40 of these were conducted in Diyarbakır. The others were shot in Mardin, Şırnak, Siirt, Van, and Hakkari. I want this to be turned into a book as well. The material is ready. For a book, you first collect the material. My material is ready. It is on my desk. I just need to set aside 15-20 days after these works are finished. I will set that time aside, hopefully. In winter, we will meet you with this book,” he said.

Saying, “The spark that our mother Hacere ignited spread throughout the country in waves,” Interior Ministry Advisor Hatice Atan stated, “We started in Diyarbakır. Then Batman, Siirt, Mardin, and today we are here, in our own home. You watched it. It is really a very meaningful documentary. Maybe you only saw it on television until now, saw it in the news. But experiencing it firsthand, the names of those mothers are very beautiful, very meaningful. It started with a spark. First, with the spark of our mother Hacere, a mother lit a torch in front of the HDP, challenging the terrorist organization’s extension. This torch spread in waves. From Şırnak to Hakkari, from Hakkari to Muş, from Muş to Van, from Van to Bitlis. Later to İzmir, and from İzmir you saw the cry of a mother from abroad. It spread in waves,” she said.

Director Yasemin Çekiç also stated that they shot the documentary with great emotion, willingly, and with tears. Expressing that they wanted to leave a beautiful work by putting in great effort, Çekiç said, “There was an editing period of about 3 months. Our aim was to be able to both convey this and make it felt; I hope we have succeeded in that.”

The screening of the documentary was attended by parents who are part of the vigil for their children, as well as Şırnak Governor Cevdet Atay, Deputy Governor Muhammet Çiftçi, Mayor Mehmet Yarka, Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Mevlüt Dirim, AK Party Provincial Chairman İbrahim Halil Erkan, representatives of public institutions and civil society organizations, families of martyrs, and citizens.