Dargeçit [Hold Still] with Guests - FREE ADMISSION; Turkey, 2023 - Turkish, Kurdish with English subtitles

Director: Berke Baş     followed by Q&A with the director in English

Between October 29th and November 2nd, 1995, the Turkish gendarmerie detained around fifty people in Dargeçit district of Mardin, in Turkey’s Kurdish region. Seven of the detained, among them three children, were never seen again.

A sergeant who was said to inform the townspeople about the killings in custody went missing himself. In 2014, the remains of five of the disappeared were discovered and identified. As a result of this discovery, a court case could be started against 5 military personnel, including gendarmerie commanders, and 13 village guards, with charges of premeditated murder. 

This documentary, co-produced by Hafıza Merkezi (Truth, Justice, Memory Center), highlights the case of seven Kurdish villagers, including three children, who were forcibly disappeared in 1995, and the legal battle by their families and lawyer Erdal Kuzu seeking justice and accountability in an environment marked by systemic state violence and impunity. 

Trailer: