12 June 2023 - REEL BORDERS FIELD RESEARCH
Start of the Turkish-Syrian border fieldwork
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Recently, a part of the Reel Borders team went to Turkey to start up the fieldwork on the Turkish-Syrian border. We were hosted by our partners İlke Şanlıer and Aydın Çam from Çukurova University in Adana. We discussed the focus of our upcoming data collection and collaborations and got to know many different initiatives related to cinema as the Sinematek of Adana, as well as borders and migration. We were deeply moved by our visit to the region of Hatay, which was strongly impacted by the February earthquake. Among others, we had the opportunity to meet the students, teachers and many volunteers of the Kolektif Koordinasyon Derneği working to provide schooling in Samandağ. Teşekkürler, for sharing your stories with us. Your strength and resilience touched our hearts. Goodbye for now, and we will be back soon!
About the Reel Borders project
Reel Borders is a 5-year research project focusing on the relations between film and borders. It studies how for the past 120 years film has been used to imagine borders in diverse ways. Acknowledging that borders are more than territorial lines or infrastructures, the project also considers questions of belonging, identity and imagination.
Read more about Reel Borders: here
