September 28 Individual Disarmament Award "Individual Disarmament: Entitle Life!" Documentary Film Contest
September 28, 2006
Ataturk Cultural Centre
Nazire Dedeman
Founder President of Umut Foundation
Speech Text
Dear Guests,
I would like to thank all of you for attending the awards ceremony for the documentary film contest for this years twelfth Personal Disarmament: Carry the Right to Life.
This morning in Taksim Square we were at one. We were the voice of those who had died or left crippled as a result of personal armament. We conveyed the missing words of the pain and ache of those who have been harmed by weapons. The silent shoes marched this year, like every year, on the violence brought about by violence. We know that each year our voice will be stronger than the last, and even those who dont want to hear us will soon have to listen.
Personal armament is one of Turkeys main social problems. It is a social problem which is being tried to be suppressed by certain segments of the society, who give various excuses. Excuses such as Weapons are our culture, manliness has weapons, weapons dont kill, people kill...
Personal armament is a lottery of death which can have no excuses. It is a lottery with no winners, it is not known who it will strike and is completely outside the law. With your support we will do everything we can to put an end to this lottery so it can be forgotten in the future, and we will continue to so in the future.
In our first traditional contests organised in 1995, the Umut Foundation, established with the founding goals of ensuring that our young believe in the supremacy of the law, that they help this process; to ensure that people choose peaceful ways to solve their disagreements; to spread peace and compromise and to ensure the teaching of skills to promote individual development..." looked to art as a means of achieving its goals, tried to spread the messages of our artists and intellectuals who wee see as the societys opinion leaders to masses through the use of art.
Every piece of work which enters our contests expresses our Foundations aims in the general public in the best way possible; it is a contribution to spreading awareness of the cause of personal disarmament.
Since documentaries are the most important means of art in strengthening public memory, leaving a legacy to history from our current lives and understanding the course of history even if it does not fully recur, it produces resemblances, we prefer the contest on the theme of Individual Disarmament: Carry the Right to Life to be in documentary movie area for 2006.
Our aim was to start a discussion on reasons and results of social violence and individual armament, which increase its existence in our lives each day, through a documentary, by using all scientific, artistic and aesthetic opportunities.
Each contesting film considers a different aspect of individual armament. Despite the fact that they have different themes, they have a unity among themselves and strongly present potential reasons and effects of individual armament.
Since a different aspect of individual disarmament was considered in each film, the jury fell into stress in distributing the prizes. I thank each of rewarded contestants one by one and wish their contributions to our foundation to continue.
This year for the first time in our history an institution was awarded by our jury with appreciation prize based on its institutional sensitiveness on disarmament. I thank BP Petroleum Inc for its patronage in preparation of an educational film titled Shadow of Gun which was produced for education of its employees at oil stations and its sensitivity on individual disarmament.
Just before I finish, for their help in the 28 September activities, I wanted to express my great thanks to our Governor Mr. Muammer Güler, the İstanbul Governorship, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Beyoğlu Council, the General Directorate of Istanbul Transport, the Association of Documentary Cinemas, As Furniture, Borsa Restaurants and Aklın Aynası Interior Decoration and Design, to which I owe a debt of gratitude for their valuable cooperation and contributions.
I would also like to give my eternal thanks to; members of our cinema industry who show their awareness on individual disarmament with their participations to our contest, the jury who spent a whole day through assessing contesting films, and all of you who show their sensitivity through being here.
For tomorrows full of hope...
Nazire Dedeman
Umut Foundation
Founding President