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Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
Jan 19 2015
Remembering through projects of dialogue Hrant Dink
by Emrah Güler
The same year Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief Hrant
Dink was assassinated, a foundation was established in his name to
carry out his dreams of peace and dialogue. Here is a look at some of
the Hrant Dink Foundation's projects on the anniversary of his death
It has been eight years today since Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian
journalist and editor-in-chief of the bilingual newspaper Agos, was
assassinated by a young nationalist. Dink was an advocate of
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and wrote ardently about human and
minority rights. At his funeral, two hundred thousand marched,
chanting `We are all Armenians' and `We are all Hrant Dink.'
Soon after, a foundation was established in his name to foster and
normalize the relationship between Turkey and Armenia, with the motto,
`The border will first be opened in our minds.' The activities and
projects at the heart of the Hrant Dink Foundation lie in furthering
cultural dialogue and serving peace and empathy between the two
cultures. Here is a look at some of the foundation's projects.
The foundation's most popular project is a film competition called
Films About Conscience, which is much more than a competition. For the
last five years, the short film project is offering an interactive
platform for amateur and professional filmmakers to become part of a
community and talk about conscience through film. The
project/competition is inspired by Dink's words, `The voice of
conscience has been sentenced to silence. Now, that conscience is
searching for a way out.'
Filmmakers are invited to upload videos of no more than five minutes
to the project's website. Visitors are encouraged to vote for their
favorite films and publish comments on the films. Films are uploaded,
comments are welcome, votes are encouraged and at the end of a period
of six months, a jury selects the final 20 submissions. There are no
technical criteria. If your films are less than five minutes and are
on the theme of conscience, you are eligible for the competition.
Between March 31 and Nov. 30, 2014, a total of 59 films were uploaded
to the website, both from Turkey and abroad. The winners were
announced on Dec. 10, 2014, World Human Rights Day. The winning films
were selected by a jury including Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante,
Director of Istanbul Film Festival Azize Tan, actor and writer Ercan
Kesal and writer Å?ebnem Ä°Å?igüzel, as well as Dink's wife, Rakel Dink.
The winning films are collected in a DVD, and recommended to
international film festivals, while the first-place winner is awarded
an incentive scholarship. You can watch this year's winner, Burkay
DoÄ?an's short `Å?em' (Candle), on the story of a candle trying to
flicker the burned-out wishes of others, as well as others on the
project's website (filmsaboutconscience.org).
Beyond Borders
Another project run by the Hrant Dink Foundation, in partnership with
the Civilitas Foundation in Armenia and funded by the European Union,
is the Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant. Hoping to increase direct contacts
and to promote cooperation between the peoples of the two neighboring
countries, the grant has been supporting the travels of 200 people
between the two countries. Other supporters of the project include the
Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG) in Turkey and the Youth
Initiative Centre (YIC) in Gyumri, Armenia.
The grant requires specific goals and activities, such as partnership
building and networking, cross-border cooperation projects, exchange
programs, academic cooperation and joint productions of culture and
arts, among others, from individuals and non-profit civic initiatives.
You can check the Beyond Borders Turkey-Armenia website
(armtr-beyondborders.org) for the visitors' experiences and
impressions.
Currently, one visitor is set to travel to Armenia to carry out
archival research on the Armenian press during the post-genocide
period as part of his PhD thesis, while another is going to interview
descendants of the 1915 events, associations and institutions for a
daily newspaper and later a book.
Coming to Turkey, a photographer will take photos of Armenian-Turkish
mixed couples living in Turkey and another visitor will work on a
project to create a public online map showing the Armenian heritage in
Istanbul. The travel grant is currently open to applications, with the
next deadline on March 1, to a selection committee deciding on 25
beneficiaries from Turkey, and 15 from Armenia. Check hrantdink.org
for more information on the foundation's activities.
January/19/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/remembering-through-projects-of-dialogue-hrant-dink.aspx?pageID=238&nid=77098&NewsCatID=381
Jan 19 2015
Remembering through projects of dialogue Hrant Dink
by Emrah Güler
The same year Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief Hrant
Dink was assassinated, a foundation was established in his name to
carry out his dreams of peace and dialogue. Here is a look at some of
the Hrant Dink Foundation's projects on the anniversary of his death
It has been eight years today since Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian
journalist and editor-in-chief of the bilingual newspaper Agos, was
assassinated by a young nationalist. Dink was an advocate of
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and wrote ardently about human and
minority rights. At his funeral, two hundred thousand marched,
chanting `We are all Armenians' and `We are all Hrant Dink.'
Soon after, a foundation was established in his name to foster and
normalize the relationship between Turkey and Armenia, with the motto,
`The border will first be opened in our minds.' The activities and
projects at the heart of the Hrant Dink Foundation lie in furthering
cultural dialogue and serving peace and empathy between the two
cultures. Here is a look at some of the foundation's projects.
The foundation's most popular project is a film competition called
Films About Conscience, which is much more than a competition. For the
last five years, the short film project is offering an interactive
platform for amateur and professional filmmakers to become part of a
community and talk about conscience through film. The
project/competition is inspired by Dink's words, `The voice of
conscience has been sentenced to silence. Now, that conscience is
searching for a way out.'
Filmmakers are invited to upload videos of no more than five minutes
to the project's website. Visitors are encouraged to vote for their
favorite films and publish comments on the films. Films are uploaded,
comments are welcome, votes are encouraged and at the end of a period
of six months, a jury selects the final 20 submissions. There are no
technical criteria. If your films are less than five minutes and are
on the theme of conscience, you are eligible for the competition.
Between March 31 and Nov. 30, 2014, a total of 59 films were uploaded
to the website, both from Turkey and abroad. The winners were
announced on Dec. 10, 2014, World Human Rights Day. The winning films
were selected by a jury including Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante,
Director of Istanbul Film Festival Azize Tan, actor and writer Ercan
Kesal and writer Å?ebnem Ä°Å?igüzel, as well as Dink's wife, Rakel Dink.
The winning films are collected in a DVD, and recommended to
international film festivals, while the first-place winner is awarded
an incentive scholarship. You can watch this year's winner, Burkay
DoÄ?an's short `Å?em' (Candle), on the story of a candle trying to
flicker the burned-out wishes of others, as well as others on the
project's website (filmsaboutconscience.org).
Beyond Borders
Another project run by the Hrant Dink Foundation, in partnership with
the Civilitas Foundation in Armenia and funded by the European Union,
is the Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant. Hoping to increase direct contacts
and to promote cooperation between the peoples of the two neighboring
countries, the grant has been supporting the travels of 200 people
between the two countries. Other supporters of the project include the
Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG) in Turkey and the Youth
Initiative Centre (YIC) in Gyumri, Armenia.
The grant requires specific goals and activities, such as partnership
building and networking, cross-border cooperation projects, exchange
programs, academic cooperation and joint productions of culture and
arts, among others, from individuals and non-profit civic initiatives.
You can check the Beyond Borders Turkey-Armenia website
(armtr-beyondborders.org) for the visitors' experiences and
impressions.
Currently, one visitor is set to travel to Armenia to carry out
archival research on the Armenian press during the post-genocide
period as part of his PhD thesis, while another is going to interview
descendants of the 1915 events, associations and institutions for a
daily newspaper and later a book.
Coming to Turkey, a photographer will take photos of Armenian-Turkish
mixed couples living in Turkey and another visitor will work on a
project to create a public online map showing the Armenian heritage in
Istanbul. The travel grant is currently open to applications, with the
next deadline on March 1, to a selection committee deciding on 25
beneficiaries from Turkey, and 15 from Armenia. Check hrantdink.org
for more information on the foundation's activities.
January/19/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/remembering-through-projects-of-dialogue-hrant-dink.aspx?pageID=238&nid=77098&NewsCatID=381