2021 SCHEDULE
ABOUT MOBIFEST
Bertha Spaces MobiFest is a week-long international convening co-hosted by two activist hubs in the Bertha Spaces network—Postane in Istanbul and Bertha House in Cape Town. It explores how visual storytelling and mobile technology can be used together to advance social change. The theme for this year is Solidarity Spaces.
Selected filmmakers developed their 5 minute films over an 8-week production period. The short films have been programmed as a feature-length block – The MobiFest Films – which will be screened as two parts, Block A and Block B with a 10 minute interval between. Throughout the festival period, Postane and Bertha House will host 3 daily screenings of The MobiFest Films.
Book here to attend physical screenings at Bertha House.
.
Book here to attend physical screenings at Postane.
.
To view MobiFest Films and Q&A’s remotely, check the screening schedule (look for events marked hybrid!) and visit live.berthaspacesmobifest.org at the time listed.
WITH THANKS TO OUR MENTORS & MASTER CLASS HOSTS
Our filmmakers were paired with mentors who we thought could best shape and guide the development of their films. Filmmakers also received masterclasses in Narrative & Mobile Storytelling, Production & Pre-Production, and Storytelling for Social Impact. We would like to thank the mentors and masterclass hosts for their invaluable contribution to the success of Bertha Spaces MobiFest 2021.
MENTORS
South Africa:
Monde Kawana, Nadine Cloete, Dylan Valley, Antoinette Engel, Jenna Bass, Karabo Lediga, Lesedi Mogoatlhe and Nhlanhla Hlongwane
Turkey:
Can Candan and Volkan Işıl
MASTER CLASS HOSTS
South Africa:
Jenna Bass, Nhlanhla Hlongwane, Kurt Orderson and Melany Fuma
Turkey:
Berke Baş, Suncem Koçer, Beste Yamalıoğlu and Meryem Yavuz
The MobiFest Films
Block A
RADICAL KINDNESS
KHANYA QONGQO
A Community-led Food and Support Space Provides Covid Relief
Khanya is based in Harare, Khayelitsha—the biggest township in Cape Town. In 2020 she joined Cape Town Together, a collective of Community Action Networks that provided mutual aid and support during the Covid-19 pandemic. A co-founder of the Harare Community Action Network, her story is about how members organise for and with each other to meet the needs of their immediate community.
TATAVLA
ASLIHAN ÖRÜN & OKAN ERÜNSAL
A Market Provides Sanctuary from Racism
Aslıhan and Okan are video, film and documentary producers based in Istanbul. Their film is set in Kurtuluş, a neighbourhood in Istanbul. Their story focuses on Tatavla Solidarity Market, a collectively operated shop that caters to people who are in a materially and socially disadvantaged position, and offers a pocket of relief from racism.
DEPO
MERT KAYA
A Tobacco Warehouse that Became an Arts Hub
Mert is a documentary filmmaker based in Istanbul who uses the medium to better understand and explain social issues. His film tells the story of DEPO - a former tobacco warehouse that now serves as a culture, art and discussion space in Tophane, a suburb in Istanbul.
SONGBIRD
EMMA TOLLMAN
A Historic and Inclusive Bar Offers Relief From Isolation
Emma is a screenwriter, director, actress, performance artist and fashion designer. Her story is set in inner city-Johannesburg’s second oldest bar which is known for musical line-ups that encourage human connection. Songbird is a character’s personal journey from grief to finding healing and understanding through community.
ANOTHER VILLAGE
SEVDE TUNÇ
Bringing Young People Back to a Shrinking Village
Sevde is a documentary photographer and director based in Istanbul. Her work centers around stories about women, migration and environmental impact. Her film is set in the small Kurşunlu village where a group of women work together to re-introduce tourism to the eco-village which is losing it’s young people to larger cities.
WE ARE HEALING LIFE
MEHMET ERCAN
A New Model for Advancing Food Justice
Mehmet is a “realistic dreamer” who moves between Istanbul and Berlin. He believes in the power of storytelling and empathy to create social impact. Mehmet’s film is centered on chef Ebru Baybara Demir’s work to address food insecurity and lower the impact of waste.
KAZDAĞLARI, OUR HOME
NESIME KARATEKE
My Home, Not Your Gold
Nesime is a documentary filmmaker who was born in the city of Antakya in southern Turkey. Her film focuses on the collaboration of activists and the villagers in the province of Canakkale, to resist proposed mining in their region.
WE BELONG HERE
ADRIAN MADIKISA
A Land Occupation Provides Homes and Prompts Activism
Adrian has a keen interest and passion for documentary filmmaking, is based in Cape Town and works as a camera assistant. His film follows an activist shack dweller who has occupied land along a busy main road in Observatory, a centrally-located and historically middle class suburb in Cape Town.
TOZKOPARAN IS OURS
YASIN SERINDERE & ÖZGÜR CIHAN UÇAR
A Park Serves as a Base for Resisting Evictions
Yasin is a photographer and documentary filmmaker who lives in Istanbul. His film is set in Istanbul’s Tozkoparan District, where evictions are currently happening. The film focuses on the community’s resistance to gentrification, and the solidarity they find from gathering in a nearby neighbourhood park.
The MobiFest Films
Block B
ON TRUST
EKIN ÇUHADAR
A Grocery Store with a Difference
Ekin is a civil society worker who uses documentary film as a tool for people who want to speak their own words and share their own experiences. Her story is about a neighbourhood grocery store which acts as a gathering space for the Romani people and provides them with access to affordable food and other basic goods.
KHORONI / ROYAL COUNSEL
ELELWANI NETSHIFHIRE
A Community Comes Together Under a Tree
Elelwani is a TshiVenda filmmaker whose work is centered around womxn. Her story takes place at Khoroni (royal counsel), a space under a tree at which monthly and urgent community meetings are held in her village. Her story focuses on the womxn chairperson and her role in leading the community to find collective resolution.
BICYCLES EMPOWER
MZIKHONA MGEDLE
A Neighbourhood’s First Bicycle Hub
Mzikhona is from Langa in Cape Town, one of the oldest townships in South Africa. At 27, he is the founder of Langa Bicycle Hub. His passion lies in creating change through community development and engaging youth. Mzikhona’s film is about how Langa Bicycle Hub was developed as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, building a culture of cycling at the same time as advancing social cohesion in his community.
BOTAN
SEMIHA YILDIZ
A Teaching and Gathering Space for Kurdish Residents
Semiha is a Sirnak-based animator whose work focuses on nature and memory. Her film is set at Botan International. Kurdish media education is prohibited in the Turkish education system, but it is legal to organise workshops and seminars. Botan International, the first Kurdish media training institution established in the history of the state, provides media training in Kurdish with seminars and workshops, and publishes e-books for the kurdish community.
THE VEIL
SHAMEELAH KHAN
Expanding Access to a Mosque Space for Women
Shameelah is an activist, experimental documentary filmmaker, researcher and creative writer. She works with memory and power to surface silenced histories in her community. Set in Johannesburg, her film sits at the intersection of gender, race and religion and is the story about the role of women in the mosque-space.
CULTURE HALL
ULAŞ BAYRAKTAR
A Hub for Academics and Others Exposing Urban Injustice
Ulaş lives in the city of Mersin in the south of Turkey. With a PhD in Political Science and after working for many years as a professor in the field, he co-founded Kültürhane, a hub and solidarity space for activists, former-academics and anyone interested in the documentation of urban injustices. His film is about the work underway and hope represented by this space.
IKHAYA LETHU / OUR HOME
THATO MALULEKE
Finding Community and Safe Space in a Nightclub
Thato is a content producer and director based in Johannesburg who is passionate about using film and photography to tell stories about representation. His film is set in Vogue Nights, an LGBT+ nightclub in Johannesburg.
DALIA
IAN MANGENGA
A Hair Salon Bridges Social Divides
Ian lives between Cape Town and Mozambique and is a social-tech entrepreneur and the founder of a digital hub, Digital Girl Africa. In her film, Dalia, Ian explores hair salons’ long-standing history of providing space for women to organise socially, politically and economically across race and class.
Guest Screenings
NOT IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD
KURT ORDERSON
86 min (2018) SOUTH AFRICA/ USA
Not in My Neighbourhood tells the intergenerational stories of ordinary citizen-response to the policies, processes, and institutions driving contemporary forms of spatial violence and gentrification in 3 cities: Cape Town, New York, and São Paulo.
MURDER IN PARIS
ENVER SAMUELS
99 min (2021) SOUTH AFRICA
Murder In Paris is a political crime thriller that traces the motives for the assassination of anti- Apartheid activist, Dulcie September. The story travels from the heart of Paris in March 1988 to the pursuit of justice in 2021.
CONSTRUCTION FIELD
VOLKAN IŞIL
12 min (2018) TURKEY
Neighborhood football fields in Turkey are being demolished for real estate projects, while large arenas and stadiums are built. The amateur sports clubs which introduce sports to all segments of society and train football players to play professionally in well-known teams are increasingly important to the neighborhood. This movie presents the story of Yıldıztabya Sports Club, which, like many people in the neighborhood, is trying to survive against the development in the Gaziosmanpaşa district.
MY CHILD
CAN CANDAN
82 min (2013) TURKEY
What happens when your child comes out to you in a conservative society? In this feature documentary, parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender individuals in Turkey intimately share their experiences with the viewer, as they redefine what it means to be parents, family, and activists in this conservative, homophobic, and trans-phobic society.
HIGH FANTASY
JENNA BASS
74 min (2017) SOUTH AFRICA
4 young South Africans go on a camping trip to a white girl’s family farm. When they wake up the next day, they’ve switched bodies and are forced to experience life as a different race and gender. Later, when they’ve switched back, they’re interviewed documentary style.
ADDRESS UNKNOWN
NADINE CLOETE
24 min (2020) SOUTH AFRICA
This narrative short film from activist filmmaker Nadine Cloete, follows postman Joey who is traumatized when the apartheid government destroys his diverse community after declaring it a Whites Only area. Amidst this destruction Joey is determined to find his childhood friend Ebie.
WHAT DID YOU DREAM?
KARABO LEDIGA
20 min (2020) SOUTH AFRICA
11-year-old Boipelo fears that she can no longer remember her dreams and therefore can’t help her granny play the local Chinese lottery.
Screening Schedule
FRIDAY, 19 NOV
18:00 - 21:15 SA / 19:00 - 22:15 TUR
BERTHA SPACES MOBIFEST - OPENING NIGHT HYBRID
This is a closed physical event for our filmmakers and their networks.
Join us to watch films online at live.berthaspacesmobifest.org
.
.
SATURDAY, 20 NOV
9:30 - 11:15 SA / 10:30 - 12:15 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
12:00 - 13:30 SA / 13:00 - 14:30 TUR
GUEST SCREENING:
NOT IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD Kurt Orderson
14:00 - 15:45 SA / 15:00 - 16:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
18:00 - 19:45 SA / 19:00 - 20:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
20:15 - 21:15 SA / 21:15 - 22:15 TUR
BERTHA HOUSE & POSTANE: Q&A HYBRID
Food Justice & Community
Filmmakers: Ekin Çuhadar, Mehmet Ercan, Nesime Karateke, Khanya Qongqo, Mzikhona Mgedle Moderator: Kurt Orderson
Join us to watch films online at live.berthaspacesmobifest.org
SUNDAY, 21 NOV
9:30 - 11:15 SA / 10:30 - 12:15 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
12:00 - 14:45 SA / 13:00 - 15:45 TUR
GUEST SCREENING: MURDER IN PARIS Enver Samuels
Physically screened at Bertha Bioscope & followed by a Q&A: Director of Murder In Paris, Enver Samuels will be in conversa- tion with creative activist Kelly-Eve Koopman & MobiFest filmmaker Rae Human. Discussion topic: Film & Writing women into History.
18:00 - 19:45 SA / 19:00 - 20:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
20:15 - 21:15 SA / 21:15 - 22:15 TUR
BERTHA HOUSE & POSTANE: Q&A HYBRID
Neighbourhood Activism: A discussion on the topic of Land & Belonging
Filmmakers: Adrian Madikisa, Aslıhan Örün & Okan Erünsal, Yasin Serindere & Özgür Cihan Uçar Moderator: Volkan Işıl
Join us to watch films online at live.berthaspacesmobifest.org
TUESDAY, 23 NOV
9:30 - 11:15 SA / 10:30 - 12:15 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
12:00 - 13:35 SA / 13:00 - 14:35 TUR
GUEST SCREENING: CONSTRUCTION FIELD Volkan Işıl
MY CHILD Can Candan
14:00 - 15:45 SA / 15:00 - 16:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
18:00 - 19:45 SA / 19:00 - 20:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
20:15 - 21:15 SA / 21:15 - 22:15 TUR
BERTHA HOUSE & POSTANE: Q&A HYBRID
A focus on Women creating change in Society
Filmmakers: Elelwani Netshifhire, Ian Mangenga, Sevde Tunç, Yağmur Koçak Moderator: Melany Fuma
Join us to watch films online at live.berthaspacesmobifest.org
WEDNESDAY, 24 NOV
9:30 - 11:15 SA / 10:30 - 12:15 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
12:00 - 13:15 SA / 13:00 - 14:15 TUR
GUEST SCREENING: HIGH FANTASY Jenna Bass
14:00 - 15:45 SA / 15:00 - 16:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
18:00 - 19:45 SA / 19:00 - 20:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
20:15 - 21:15 SA / 21:15 - 22:15 TUR
BERTHA HOUSE & POSTANE: IN-CONVERSATION HYBRID
Activism through Mobile Storytelling
Dylan Valley & Duygu Dağ (from the Center for Spatial Justice)
Join us to watch films online at live.berthaspacesmobifest.org
THURSDAY, 25 NOV
9:30 - 11:15 SA / 10:30 - 12:15 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
12:00 - 12:45 SA / 13:00 - 13:45 TUR
GUEST SCREENING: ADDRESS UNKNOWN Nadine Cloete
WHAT DID YOU DREAM? Karabo Lediga
14:00 - 15:45 SA / 15:00 - 16:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
18:00 - 19:45 SA / 19:00 - 20:45 TUR
MobiFest Films
Screened as BLOCK A & BLOCK B, with a 10 minute interval
20:15 - 21:15 SA / 21:15 - 22:15 TUR
BERTHA HOUSE & POSTANE: Q&A HYBRID
Finding Community through Cultural Expression
Filmmakers: Mert Kaya, Shameelah Khan, Emma Tollman, Thato Maluleke,
Ulaş Bayraktar
Moderator: Beste Yamalıoğlu
Join us to watch films online at live.berthaspacesmobifest.org
FRIDAY, 26 NOV
18:30 - 21:30 SA / 19:30 - 22:30 TUR
AWARDS CEREMONY: CLOSING NIGHT & CELEBRATION HYBRID
This is a closed, physical event for our filmmakers and their networks.
Join us to watch films online at live.berthaspacesmobifest.org
For more information about Bertha House, Cape Town events send an email to crew01@berthaspacesmobifest.org.
For more information about Postane, Turkey events send an email to liana@postane.co.
.
.
Built with Shorthand