BÎR (WELL)
BÎR (Well) SYNOPSIS
In the 1990s many people in Kurdistan were taken into custody and interrogated under torture; their killers disposed of the bodies by throwing them out of helicopters, or burying them in acid-filled wells. Thousands were murdered/disappeared by paramilitary forces—such as Jitem and Hizbul-Kontra—that were financed and supported by the state, though they have always stuck to the line: “We didn’t do it.” The documentary ‘BÎR’ looks at the case of seven people, including four children, who were disappeared from the town of Kerboran [Dargeçit] in 1995, and tells the story of their families’ tireless search for their bones.
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Veysi AltayDirector
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Veysi AltayWriter
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mezopotamya sinemaProducer
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Project Title (Original Language):kurdish
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Project Type:Documentary, Feature
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Runtime:1 hour 3 minutes 10 seconds
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Completion Date:September 1, 2019
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Production Budget:50,000 EUR
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Country of Origin:Turkey
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Country of Filming:Turkey
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Language:Kurdish
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Shooting Format:digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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6 ° FICLAPAZ – LA PAZ INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, BOLIVIAla pazz
Bolivia, Plurinational State of
May 16, 2018
AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: WELL -
lake citylake city
India
Best Story award -
Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napolinapoli
Italy
January 25, 2019
AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: WELL -
Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napolinapoli
Italy
December 16, 2018
Il Premio Giuria Popolare è andato a -
KOBANE İNTERNATONIAL FİLM FESTIVALkobanê
Syrian Arab Republic
November 27, 2018
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR FEATURE DOC -
Tryon International Film FestivalTryon, North Carolina
United States
October 9, 2018
DOCUMANTERY SPECIAL AWARD JURY -
au-cinema-pour-les-droits-humains.frparis
France
April 10, 2019
MENTION SPÉCIALE
human rights -
Best awards documentary babel film festivalCagliari
Italy
December 4, 2019
Prèmiu Unica – Tzitade de Casteddu | Premio Unica Città di Cagliari -
Fabrique Du Cinéma Awards BÎR (WELL) ROMAroma
Italy
December 14, 2019
europa
best awards documentary -
Roma
Italy
December 14, 2019
europa
best awards documentary
Veysi Altay has been involved in photography and cinema 20 years. He worked for many years as an administrator for Amnesty International for 6 years and for the Human Rights Association (İHD) and also reported from the war in Rojava (Western Kurdistan) during the battles against ISIS in Serêkaniyê/Ras al-Ayn (2013) and Kobanê (2014). He combines his media and documentary work with Turkish-Kurdish translation and interpreting. Altay has carried out archival research on subjects such as mines, the lynch culture, nationalism, seasonal workers and political disappearances and has produced a book of photography, published in three languages, entitled Em Ên Wenda (We, the Disappeared), featuring 100 photos and 100 stories of people who were disappeared by the state. He is also the director of a number of documentary films:
- Faîlî Dewlet (The State is the Perpetrator), telling the story of those killed by the Turkish government in the region of Cizre between 1990-1995
- Jiyanên Bêdeng (Silent Lives), looking at the victims of mines laid in Kurdistan by the Turkish state
- Berxwedana 33 Salan-Dayika Berfo (33 Years of Resistance - Dayika Berfo), following 105-year-old Mother Berfo's quest for the truth about what happened to her son who disappeared in police custody following the military coup of 12 September 1980
- Nûjîn (New Life), a behind-the-scenes account of the Kurdish resistance in Kobanê in 2014