Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

On February 6, 2023, the documentary on the Colorful Dreams Stage project, which set out to contribute to the well-being of children affected by the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, met with the audience for the first time with a special screening held at Atlas Cinema on Wednesday, January 17. 

Within the scope of the “Colorful Dreams Stage” project implemented by the Theater Cooperative with the support of TOBB Creative Industries Council and Netflix Türkiye and in cooperation with Needs Map between April 23 and June 25, 2023, 7,500 children affected by the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay met with the healing power of art. 7,500 children participated in more than 200 activities including theater plays, workshops, concerts, film screenings and street performances for 62 days in tent and container cities in Kahramanmaraş Avşar, Göksun, Elbistan, Afşin and Hatay Antakya.

The documentary, which chronicles the 2-month project process in which 123 artists from 32 teams participated, 53 theater plays, 32 workshops, 14 street performances, 18 concerts and 84 film screenings were held, describes the social benefit created and underlines the ongoing psychosocial needs in the earthquake zone.

- Children's changing lives touched

Mert Fırat, Member of the Board of Directors of the Theater Cooperative, made the opening speech at the documentary screening, which started with the story of the emergence of the project and explained the two-month process, and said: “From the first day of the earthquake, we, as the Theater Cooperative, like many other institutions and NGOs, tried to do everything we could. We came together with more than 70 private theater representatives of the Theater Cooperative, and first launched our Solidarity from the Stage campaign. With the opinions of the theater representatives, we decided to realize a project for the well-being of children. In this process, witnessing the changing lives of the children in the region, seeing the traumas they have experienced first-hand, made us want to restore the smile on their faces, even for a certain period of time. For this reason, within the scope of the Colorful Dreams Stage, which emerged for this reason, we achieved a very meaningful and valuable work for 2 months and I can say that we have created a document that will be noted in history.”

Yeşim Özsoy, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Theater Cooperative, then took the floor and said the following about the emergence of the project: “As we say at every opportunity, theater has a very important place in healing and healing the wounds of society, especially in times of crisis. From this point of view, we started to pursue the question of what we can do in our own field and with our own power, and the Colorful Dreams Stage project emerged with the joint participation of our theaters. With this project, our primary goal was to make a positive contribution to the well-being of children, who are among the groups most psychologically affected by the earthquake. We brought art to 7,500 children in tent and container cities in Kahramanmaraş Avşar, Göksun, Elbistan, Afşin and Hatay Antakya for 62 days through more than 200 activities. 123 artists from 32 teams took the stage with 53 theater plays, 32 workshops, 14 street performances and 18 concerts. We screened 84 films. I hope that this meaningful journey that colors our dreams will affect you as much as it has affected us.”

Evren Aydoğan, Executive Director of Necessity Map, explained the importance of the project for them: “We are very happy to be a part of the Colorful Dreams Stage. Since the first moment of the earthquake, we have been working in the field and at the table with our stakeholders to improve the living conditions of our citizens affected by the earthquake. In this context, I would like to thank all our stakeholders who have enabled us to mediate the healing power of art in general and theater in particular to reach our children. I hope that the talisman of theater, which makes people dream and opens doors to other worlds, will continue to reach our earthquake-affected citizens and the whole society more intensively. As Necessity Map, we will continue to expand any kind of solidarity we can in this regard.”

- Kavame: “Collective consciousness is important”

Ali Ata Kavame, President of TOBB Creative Industries Council, one of the supporters of the project, said in his speech: “Difficult times have once again shown us the importance of unity and collective consciousness. As all creative-minded institutions and organizations that we represent under the roof of this Council, we acted with a sense of unity. We tried to put another unforgettable beautiful memory in front of an unforgettable bad memory. We know that laughter is a basic need like water, like bread, and dreaming heals hearts. As TOBB Türkiye Creative Industries Council, we will continue to stand by our most valuable treasure, our children, and give hope to them with our valuable components today and tomorrow as we did yesterday.” Pelin Mavili, Netflix Türkiye Middle East and North Africa Public Policy Director Pelin Mavili, who supports the project, said, “As Netflix, we carry out many different projects to contribute to Türkiye. However, our most meaningful project to date was undoubtedly the Colorful Dreams Stage. This project, which we realized together with our valuable partners, allowed us to open new windows of hope for children by using the healing power of art and creative activities. On the other hand, we are aware that healing the wounds in the earthquake region is a long-term process and we will continue our efforts in this direction.”

Kaan Cansever, who is in the director's chair of the documentary that sheds light on the whole story of the Colorful Dreams Stage project, expressed his feelings and thoughts about the documentary and his experiences during the filming as follows: “The idea of making a documentary film emerged with the request of the Theater Cooperative, along with our belief that even the smallest impact of the Colorful Dreams Stage project can cause many positive things. We talked one-on-one with every artist who came, we took interviews, we tried to focus on their feelings without hurting the children. We tried to reflect how important art can be in rebuilding a destroyed city. With this documentary, we shared the legacy left by everyone who worked on this project. This documentary is not just about a work done in the earthquake zone. It tells what kind of effects can emerge when children come into contact with artists and artists come into contact with children in such a challenging area, and how every contact can be a new hope.”

You can access the Colorful Dreams Stage documentary on Theater Cooperative's Youtube channel.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/tiyatrokooperatifi