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Iniva & Platform Asia in London

  • 2 days ago
  • 2 min read

A special screening of artists’ film and video works by LGBTQIA+ and womxn artists from Turkey, exploring the shrinking public space of their communities, censorship, and resistance.


The event’s name This Society F*cks Me Over takes its name from a quote by the late trans writer, sex worker, activist, and artist Gani Met. When she says “this society fucks me”, the phrase works in two directions at once: it points to the literal sexual economies in which her body is exchanged and consumed, while also naming the structural violence of a society that fucks her over as a trans woman and a sex worker. The programme stays with that double edge. In Turkey, to be recognised as trans, queer, or Kurdish is never neutral. These identities are often re-recognised by the state, media, and moral majority as “terrorist”, “deviant”, or “public scandal”.

In collaboration with Platform Asia , we bring together film and video works by LGBTQIA+ and womxn artists from Turkey, including Nadir Sönmez, belit sağ, Nihat Karataşlı, Leyla Yenirce and Zeynep Dadak & Çiçek Kahraman. The screening asks how queer, trans, and Kurdish lives appear in public space, and what forms of recognition they can survive.


The screening includes a short introduction to feminism and gender politics in Turkey by Dr Ceren Özpınar, followed by a conversation with the acclaimed Turkish trans artist and musician Kübra Uzun (aka Q-Bra).

The following films will be screened as part of the event:


  • Cruising by Nadir Sönmez (2024), 6 mins

  • Sevil by Belit Sağ (2024), 8 mins 19 secs

  • Ayhan and Me by Belit Sağ (2016), 14 mins

  • Hüzün is a Tranny Name by Nihat Karataşlı (2020), 15 mins

  • Weird, Absurd, Whatever by Çiçek Kahraman & Zeynep Dadak (2025), 7 mins

  • Being Strong Is Hard by Leyla Yenirce (2021), 4 mins 12 secs


This Society F*cks Me Over is curated by Alper Turan and Platform Asia, and co-presented by Iniva as part of the Visualising Contemporary Art Histories project, supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, which is funded by the National Lottery.


 
 
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