Filmmor decides to close down amid exposure of discrimination, violence allegations
* Image: Filmmor
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After 13 womxn who had worked for the Filmmor Women's Cooperative from 2016 to 2020 released a joint statement and announced that they had been subjected to discrimination and violence while working there, the cooperative has announced that it has decided to close down.
In a statement released by the Filmmor four days after this statement was released, it is said, "We reject both the obligation to say something and the digital 'witch courts' imposed on us since February 10. Because this virtually organized fight without any agenda, objection, request or mechanism within the feminist law and cooperative is not our fight."
The statement of the cooperative has read, "We have decided to close down Filmmor in order not to be a part of this hate climate."
"Along with the liquidation processes where all financial and administrative documents of the cooperative will be opened, we will pursue individual legal remedies at official courts," the statement has added.
What happened?On February 10, 2021, 13 womxn released a joint statament and said: "We, as 13 womxn have either worked or volunteered at Filmmor Women Cooperative between 2016 and 2020, write this notice to both highlight our experiences of systematic violence and discrimination and bring attention to the continuous use of the aforementioned acts; as well as the pattern of exploitation that is born as a result of this behavior that is deeply rooted within the power structures of the mentioned cooperation. "Our time at Filmmor has made it possible for us to witness that the problems that are mentioned within the text written by 14 other people who had left Filmmor in 2015 are not one of momentary nature, but rather the part of a recurring theme. Although many of us were already aware of the said notice during our time at Filmmor, we were hopeful that a process of healing and systematic improvement could be upon us. It is only now that we are able to look back upon our time in Filmmor and understand the severity of the situation. Thus, we have decided to make the issues at hand public in such a manner. Following are some examples of the behaviors we have been subjected to at the hands of Filmmor's coordinators Melek (Özman) Elhan, Ülkü Songül Özman ve Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver, summed up under two main headings." The womxn, then, listed their allegations under the headings of "Discrimination" and "Violation of Human Rights and Systematic Violence in the Workplace." "We invite everyone in the feminist and LGBTI+ movement to question their privileges and to consider the exposes to end the cycle of violence within and outside the movement," they concluded the statement. After this statement was shared with the public, Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver also released a statement and indicated that she had not committed any of the acts mentioned in the statement, adding that she had also not witnessed the committal of these acts while working there. |
(RT/SD)
