TIAFF: The Town That Drove Away

Residents of the ancient city of Hasankeyf see their world disappear when the Turkish government floods their land for a prestigious dam project. The promise of a modern life strips people of their homes, their history and their identity. Traditions make way for a future cast in concrete.

Shepherd’s son Rengin and village barber Burak live in the midst of this disruption. They are forced to adapt to ever-changing rules imposed from the outside, while their existence slowly slips out of their hands. Every new measure underscores the same reality: their lives are determined by a power beyond their control. Everything they once knew is gone forever; what remains is family, pride and a fragile sense of dignity.