A Vegan Filmmaker Opens the Debate on Animal Sacrifice in Turkey
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Every year in director Nevra Topcu's native Turkey, animals are sacrificed for Eid or Kurban Bayramı.
As a vegan, the subject has always put her off. In “Kurban” (Sacrifice), our Short of the Week, she explores in greater depth the debates surrounding the practice, which you can watch for free on our IGTV below.
Here’s more from Nevra herself:
I was raised in a traditional Muslim family in Turkey around the animal sacrifice practice until the age of eighteen when I moved to the UK. Polarisation in Turkey between the conservative and secular had a big effect on me growing up. Going to secular schools and growing up in a conservative family I often felt pressured to fit in one side or the other.
After many years of living in the UK and working in film, I decided to go back to what I had distanced myself from the most and approached to make this film by following the festival celebration in Turkey. It was symbolic to understand the opposing views in society . Both sides were consuming meat whether it was animal sacrifice festival or the 'modern' animal industrialisation. Yet animals were still the victims.
Me being vegan was just the surface of my interest on this subject. My main aim was to make a film that can represent opposing views equally to facilitate a dialogue and to get to the core of what devotion meant for the people practicing sacrifice.
It was a very organic process and was one of the most difficult experiences having to witness to a sacrifice for the first time while filming.
Short of the Week is our series dedicated to showcasing the best short documentaries available online. Get in touch to pitch yours.
