Each March, Beykoz Kundura presents special programmes that remember the pioneering women of film history and make their work visible once more. This year it continues the tradition by focusing on Scotland’s women documentary filmmakers. Realised with the support of the British Council, the selection “Görünmeyen Emek, Görünür Hikâyeler: İskoç Kadın Belgeselciler 1935–Günümüz” (Invisible Labour, Visible Stories: Scottish Women Documentary Makers 1935–Today) will meet audiences on 6–7 March.
The international collaborations that began with Beykoz Kundura’s participation in 2024 in the Momentum programme, run by the British Council and Creative Scotland, continue with this special programme in pursuit of a lasting creative dialogue with Scotland.
Curated in collaboration with the Invisible Women collective and the Scottish Documentary Institute, the selection brings together, from a feminist perspective, the work of Scottish women documentary makers spanning almost a century. Forging strong links between past and present, the programme focuses on experimental aesthetics, hybrid forms of storytelling, invisible labour, lost histories and untold women’s stories. Screening in Turkey for the first time, the films in the selection will meet documentary audiences and bring to light women’s stories that have long remained hidden.
The programme explores the story of Marion and Ruby Grierson, sisters of the documentary pioneer John Grierson, who long remained in his shadow. Comprising work by the two directors, who made significant films in the 1930s and 1940s but for many years received little recognition, the selection revisits this legacy and its influence up to the present day.
Screenings, a Conversation and a DJ Set
The programme opens on the evening of Friday 6 March with a pre-screening conversation. Featuring representatives of the Invisible Women collective and the Scottish Documentary Institute, the talk will discuss the visibility of women in creative production, past and present, and in the history of documentary film. The same evening, after the short film programme, the cinema foyer will host a DJ set by Ladies On Records, who research and celebrate the stories of women musicians active in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
The selection continues with a second day of screenings on Saturday 7 March, from 17:00 to 18:15.
What’s in the Film Programme
The selection includes Marion Grierson’s 1935 film Beside the Seaside (Denizin Kıyısında), which experiments with innovative film techniques to capture a sun-drunk day on the British coast; Ruby Grierson’s 1940 They Also Serve(Onlar da Hizmet Ediyor), centred on the hardships faced by a housewife in wartime; Orcadian experimental filmmaker Margaret Tait’s Portrait of Ga(Ga’nın Portresi); Jenny Brown and CJ Cayley’s 1940 Northern Outpost (Kuzey Karakolu), a warm, inviting introduction to the landscape and traditions of the Shetland Islands; and, from the present day, Becky Manson’s 2025 Water to the Wall (Duvara Kadar Su) and Maria Pankova’s 2023 The Sound of the Wind (Rüzgârın Sesi). Bringing together films from different eras, the programme traces the footprint of Scottish women documentary makers in film history.
Beykoz Kundura’s annual programmes dedicated to women filmmakers aim to ensure that the work of creative women is remembered and becomes more visible in our collective memory. For full details of the programme, visit www.beykozkundura.com.
