17.01.2024 İstanbul
A special screening of the Colorful Dreams Stage Project documentary, which was realized for children affected by the earthquake, took place. The documentary screening of the “Colorful Dreams Stage” project, which was realized by the Theater Cooperative with the support of TOBB Creative Industries Council and Netflix Türkiye and in cooperation with Needs Map and touched the lives of 7,500 children, was held.
On February 6, 2023,
the documentary on the Colorful Dreams Stage project, which set out to contribute
to the well-being of children affected by the earthquakes centered in
Kahramanmaraş, met with the audience for the first time with a special
screening held at Atlas Cinema on Wednesday, January 17.
Within the scope of the
“Colorful Dreams Stage” project implemented by the Theater Cooperative with the
support of TOBB Creative Industries Council and Netflix Türkiye and in
cooperation with Needs Map between April 23 and June 25, 2023, 7,500 children
affected by the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay met with the healing
power of art. 7,500 children participated in more than 200 activities including
theater plays, workshops, concerts, film screenings and street performances for
62 days in tent and container cities in Kahramanmaraş Avşar, Göksun, Elbistan,
Afşin and Hatay Antakya.
The documentary, which
chronicles the 2-month project process in which 123 artists from 32 teams
participated, 53 theater plays, 32 workshops, 14 street performances, 18
concerts and 84 film screenings were held, describes the social benefit created
and underlines the ongoing psychosocial needs in the earthquake zone.
- Children's changing lives touched
Mert Fırat, Member of
the Board of Directors of the Theater Cooperative, made the opening speech at
the documentary screening, which started with the story of the emergence of the
project and explained the two-month process, and said: “From the first day of
the earthquake, we, as the Theater Cooperative, like many other institutions
and NGOs, tried to do everything we could. We came together with more than 70
private theater representatives of the Theater Cooperative, and first launched
our Solidarity from the Stage campaign. With the opinions of the theater
representatives, we decided to realize a project for the well-being of children.
In this process, witnessing the changing lives of the children in the region,
seeing the traumas they have experienced first-hand, made us want to restore
the smile on their faces, even for a certain period of time. For this reason,
within the scope of the Colorful Dreams Stage, which emerged for this reason,
we achieved a very meaningful and valuable work for 2 months and I can say that
we have created a document that will be noted in history.”
Yeşim Özsoy,
Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Theater Cooperative, then took the
floor and said the following about the emergence of the project: “As we say at
every opportunity, theater has a very important place in healing and healing
the wounds of society, especially in times of crisis. From this point of view,
we started to pursue the question of what we can do in our own field and with
our own power, and the Colorful Dreams Stage project emerged with the joint
participation of our theaters. With this project, our primary goal was to make
a positive contribution to the well-being of children, who are among the groups
most psychologically affected by the earthquake. We brought art to 7,500
children in tent and container cities in Kahramanmaraş Avşar, Göksun, Elbistan,
Afşin and Hatay Antakya for 62 days through more than 200 activities. 123
artists from 32 teams took the stage with 53 theater plays, 32 workshops, 14
street performances and 18 concerts. We screened 84 films. I hope that this
meaningful journey that colors our dreams will affect you as much as it has
affected us.”
Evren Aydoğan,
Executive Director of Necessity Map, explained the importance of the project
for them: “We are very happy to be a part of the Colorful Dreams Stage. Since
the first moment of the earthquake, we have been working in the field and at
the table with our stakeholders to improve the living conditions of our
citizens affected by the earthquake. In this context, I would like to thank all
our stakeholders who have enabled us to mediate the healing power of art in
general and theater in particular to reach our children. I hope that the
talisman of theater, which makes people dream and opens doors to other worlds,
will continue to reach our earthquake-affected citizens and the whole society
more intensively. As Necessity Map, we will continue to expand any kind of
solidarity we can in this regard.”
- Kavame: “Collective consciousness is important”
Ali Ata Kavame,
President of TOBB Creative Industries Council, one of the supporters of the
project, said in his speech: “Difficult times have once again shown us the
importance of unity and collective consciousness. As all creative-minded
institutions and organizations that we represent under the roof of this
Council, we acted with a sense of unity. We tried to put another unforgettable
beautiful memory in front of an unforgettable bad memory. We know that laughter
is a basic need like water, like bread, and dreaming heals hearts. As TOBB
Türkiye Creative Industries Council, we will continue to stand by our most
valuable treasure, our children, and give hope to them with our valuable
components today and tomorrow as we did yesterday.” Pelin Mavili, Netflix
Türkiye Middle East and North Africa Public Policy Director Pelin Mavili, who
supports the project, said, “As Netflix, we carry out many different projects
to contribute to Türkiye. However, our most meaningful project to date was
undoubtedly the Colorful Dreams Stage. This project, which we realized together
with our valuable partners, allowed us to open new windows of hope for children
by using the healing power of art and creative activities. On the other hand,
we are aware that healing the wounds in the earthquake region is a long-term
process and we will continue our efforts in this direction.”
Kaan Cansever, who is
in the director's chair of the documentary that sheds light on the whole story
of the Colorful Dreams Stage project, expressed his feelings and thoughts about
the documentary and his experiences during the filming as follows: “The idea of
making a documentary film emerged with the request of the Theater Cooperative,
along with our belief that even the smallest impact of the Colorful Dreams
Stage project can cause many positive things. We talked one-on-one with every
artist who came, we took interviews, we tried to focus on their feelings
without hurting the children. We tried to reflect how important art can be in
rebuilding a destroyed city. With this documentary, we shared the legacy left
by everyone who worked on this project. This documentary is not just about a work
done in the earthquake zone. It tells what kind of effects can emerge when
children come into contact with artists and artists come into contact with
children in such a challenging area, and how every contact can be a new hope.”
You can access the
Colorful Dreams Stage documentary on Theater Cooperative's Youtube channel.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/tiyatrokooperatifi