Sabancı University
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
CULTURAL STUDIES SPEAKER SERIES
Semra Eren-Nijhar
"Söz Bizde – We Have the Voice:
Turkish Youth in London"
Documentary screening, followed by a talk
and Q&A with the producer/director
Thursday, May 2, 2013, 14:30
FASS 2034
SÖZ BİZDE (2010) is a documentary which focuses on how young Turkish people are invisible to the policy and decision makers across Britain. The invisibility of this particular group in official statistics means that their needs and aspirations are being ignored and not represented in many facets of life. The documentary is about how young people feel about their parents' country of origin, about their own belonging, identity, religion, heritage, culture, and above all what it means to be British.
In the documentary, young people are interviewed on their attitude towards citizenship, nationality, exclusion, cultural values, faith, relationships, social cohesion about their Turkish-British identity, about their European identity, what they think about role models and their experience when faced with prejudice, the challenges and opportunities within and outside the British Education system. The bilingual documentary has been filmed on location in Istanbul, Turkey and in London and Oxford, Britain.
Semra Eren-Nijhar is a sociologist, producer, and documentary film maker. She is an experienced academic and management consultant and an expert in the areas of diversity, strategic advice on policy formulation, and social research encompassing Germany, the UK, and Turkey. Her work is mostly concerned with the issues of migration, women, education, youth, EU policies, and Turkish people living across Europe. She has actively supported and set up organizations to help to build civic society and to help break down social barriers to achieve better equity.
As an independent documentary maker she has made several documentary films, and produced and presented weekly discussion programs on a Turkish TV channel. She also had several photography exhibitions in Britain, Belgium and in Turkey.
Eren-Nijhar is a Senior Research Fellow at Cyprus Turkish Association in London, UK (First Turkish Association in Europe – 1951) and is the European representative of SABEV – Research, Documentation and Training Foundation for Social Work in Ankara, Turkey. In 2004, she was granted lifetime membership of the Millennium Awards Fellowship which marks the personal commitment and achievement of a select group of talented individuals throughout the United Kingdom in strengthening and enriching their community.
