In 2022, Anadolu Kültür celebrated its 20th year through various activities including the preparation of a comprehensive activity report covering the period between 2008 and 2022 and hosting a series of talks titled “20 Years of Sharing Culture and Art: Anadolu Kültür Talks.” In the same year, we began producing the documentary film, Feeding the River: 20 Years of Anadolu Kültür, which focuses on our 20-year journey while addressing the developments in civil society and the arts and culture scene in Turkey over these years.

The first screening of the film Feeding the River: 20 Years of Anadolu Kültür, which tells the story of Anadolu Kültür, which has been on its way for more than 20 years, believing in the importance of protecting a multicultural past and a pluralistic future, and the power of intercultural dialogue, by those who have worked for it, as part of Documentarist 17th Istanbul Documentary Days. Produced by Anadolu Kültür, executive produced by JotaFilm and loudcat filmworks, and written and directed by Mert Kaya, the documentary film met with a crowded audience at the Pera Museum on Tuesday, 11 June 2024. After the documentary, which was watched with emotion by the audience from the fields of culture and arts, human rights activism and civil society, a conversation was held with the film crew and Anadolu Kültür staff.

Feeding the River: 20 Years of Anadolu Kültür

2024, 66’

 

Could a table set amid archival records that have been piling up since 2002 serve as a space for memory exchange, a place where the archive and experiences meet? Those who have worked with Anadolu Kültür, an organization which brings culture, arts, and civil society together in many cities around Turkey, tell us what it has achieved in 20 years. Feeding the River is an attempt to contemplate on how Turkey’s distressing issues can be addressed through arts and to rethink the significance of “keeping up against all odds” within the country’s social and political context from an “insider” perspective. 

Scriptwriting, Director: Mert Kaya

Production: Anadolu Kültür

Director of Photography: Meryem Yavuz

Editing: Can Eskinazi, Mert Kaya

Art Director: Günsu Sarı

Content Team: Asena Günal, Övgü Gökçe Yaşa, Tamar Nalcı

Executive Producer: Mert Kaya (JotaFilm, loudcat.filmworks)

Assistant Director: Aslı Özoğuz

Sound Design: Ilgar Gökhan

Assistant Producer: Barış Can Ertürk (JotaFilm)

Production Coordinators: Arican Paker, Mustafa Akçaöz