At the heart of Morteza Atabaki’s doc project 32 Meters lie a number of paradoxes, DOP Zeynep Secil pointed out to the professional audience of AJD Industry Days.
The small sleepy village in southern Turkey where Halime lives is a renowned centre for arms manufacture – we see the women tapping away, constructing rifle after rifle – but crime is non-existent there, as is violence or indeed a police force. And an odd thing is that the same women who make the rifles aren’t allowed to fire them, apart from Halime, a force of nature, who has been shooting since she was a kid of twelve.
But when the annual (male) shooting contest is cancelled, Halime calls time on these social strictures, and decides to organise a women-only competition.
Why 32 metres? That was the distance that women were reckoned to be able to fire a rifle without missing the target. Halime fundamentally disagreed with this sexist estimate, but you choose your battles…
Both to empower and embolden the women, Halime must first teach them how to shoot, even if the business of balancing targets high up in trees leaves them all in fits of laughter. Yes, Halime faces various obstacles, including resistance from societal norms and traditions, ie the men of the village, but, despite these challenges, she is determined to turn the women into independent decision-makers who can challenge the traditional roles imposed on them, and to be united in their demands for change and equal rights…
DOP Zeynep Secil explained that the project won the Work-in-Progress award at the Istanbul Film Festival this year, and is now selected for Doha Film Institute post-production support. The budget of the Turkish-language Germany/France co-pro is €350,000, with €100,000 still to be raised.
She further explained that the shooting festival now has both a section for men and one for women and that, this year, more women than men competed.
“We are going to this village almost more than four years,” said Secil. “They became our family. The villagers are now our villagers, so we really love them. We are at the end of the editing process. Now it’s almost finished [but] we are open to any support.”
At the end of the pitch, Secil also revealed that, after their successes, the women now shoot at targets 40 metres away (but the film title stays the same).
Moderator Rudy Buttignol thanked the DOP. “First of all, it shows never to mess with a woman with a gun,” he said. “But it also illustrates my mantra that no documentary ever suffered because it was too funny – absolutely charming.”
