Northern Forest: discussion & film screening
By Julia Lazarus.
A journey to the forest north of Istanbul. The formerly remote rural areas along the Black Sea are being transformed by gigantic infrastructure projects for the growing megalopolis. The local population is being presented with a fait accompli. Their villages are transformed into suburbs and within just 5 years all agricultural activity becomes illegal. The film follows the Istanbul-based activists of Kuzey Ormanlari Savunmasi in their small victories and many setbacks as they organize civil resistance to the destruction of the livelihoods shared by urban and rural residents. The desperation and frustration of the residents discharges itself in grass-roots style assemblies held to establish common goals for the struggle against the superior powers.