Ecological documentaries at Bozcaada film festival

ISTANBUL

“Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas,” one of the 15 films shortlisted by the European Film Academy for the Best Documentary 2017 award, will be the opening film at this year’s Bozcaada International Ecological Documentary Film Festival (BIFED).

Bozcaada, Turkey’s third biggest island situated on the Aegean Sea, near the western exit of the Dardanelles, will be hosting the fourth edition of the festival between Oct. 11 and 15.

The festival received a record application of 330 documentary films from 70 countries this year. Documentary films from China, Taiwan, Kenya, Austria, Croatia, Australia and Chile will be screened in Bozcaada, a frequent setting for several Turkish movies with its picturesque landscape.

A point of attraction of the festival will again be the competition. “The Primordial Turtle” by Mexican director Eduardo Quiroz, “The Time of the Bees” by the Italian director Rossella Anitori as well as “The Invisible Frontier” by directors Nicolas Richat and Nico Muzi will be among the films participating in the competition.

Interest shown by female directors is another attribute of the festival this year as is the case each year. Nejla Demirci’s film “Confrontation” as well as Nesime Karateke’s movie called “Other” will meet cinephiles in Bozcaada.

About the opening film

The opening film “Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas,” a Swedish, German and Finnish joint production by director Joakim Demmer, is a documentary thriller about land grabbing and the global rush for farmland.

Around the globe, there is a massive commercial rush for farmland – the new green gold. One of the most profitable new spots for farming is Ethiopia.

Hoping for export revenues, the Ethiopian government leases millions of hectares of allegedly unused land to foreign investors. But the dream of prosperity has a dark side – the most massive forced evictions in modern history, lost livelihoods of small farmers, harsh repression and a vicious spiral of violence.

“Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas” investigates these foreign land-investments and exposes their impact on people’s lives.