Project Detail

Here to Stay

A group of women sitting in their olive groves.

Synopsis

In a remote village in southeast Turkey, 35-year-old Meryem begins the annual olive harvest. For generations, the groves have sustained the village women's livelihoods, but this year, the harvest takes place under a shadow of fear. Following a devastating earthquake that destroyed Meryem’s home, 60% of the village’s olive lands have been seized by the government to build a new satellite city. As the concrete edge presses steadily toward their remaining fields, this harvest may be their last.
Once a stay-at-home mother, Meryem picks up a camera to document the slow unraveling of her community. Women, previously confined to the home, step into public life - leading protests, sit-ins, and a landmark lawsuit alongside thousands of indigenous landowners, to protect the land they have tended for centuries. Interweaving Meryem’s video diaries with observational footage, the film moves between intimate scenes of the family harvest and the female-led resistance. As the movement unfolds, the once-perfect harvest is gradually disrupted by destruction.
HERE TO STAY tells the story of a people’s fight for justice, tracing how tragedy transforms Meryem from mother to resistance leader, as she seeks to protect the land she calls home.

Details

Year: 2026
Type of project: Shorts
Running time: 29 min 50 sec
Director: Sheida Kiran
Producer: Lucy Draper, Sheida Kiran
Executive Producer: Hannah Bush-Bailey
Editor: Giorgia Zarantonello
Screenwriter: Sheida Kiran
Director of Photography: Andri Haraldsson
Sound: Güldem Masa
Composer: Sheida Kiran
Music Performed and Arranged: Entropies
Performers: Fran Lombardelli, Emilia Pearce and Sophie Sanford
Choir: Rihen Kültür Sanat ve Dayanışma Topluluğu
Music Mixer: Marta Maria Dinozzi
Sound recordist: Özkan Boz
Colourist: Mara Ciorba
Graphics Designer: Jason Gilby
Head of Colour Production: Charlie Morris
Colour Producer: Sarah Banks
Online Editor: Tim Beeston, Tom O’Neill
Story Consultant: Dominique Young
Edit Consultant: Ariadna Fatjo-Vilas

Genre

Climate / Environment Human Rights Woman Director

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Supported by Made of Truth: BFI Doc Society Short Film Fund

Simin Productions

Lucy Draper
15A Ickburgh Road
London
E5 8AF

Page updates

This page was last updated on 30th January 2026. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

The South African cleric Desmond Tutu was more than just an archbishop, he was a moral compass, a fearless champion of justice and a global beacon of hope for a more peaceful future. TUTU reveals the man behind the icon through previously unpublished archive footage and first-hand accounts from those who walked beside him. The film traces Tutu’s rise as the unwavering voice of the oppressed. In the face of brutality, he stood resolute, guided by faith, fuelled by hope and driven by an unshakable belief in the humanity of all people. At its heart, this is a story of the transformative power of forgiveness, a message from which Tutu never wavered. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Berlinale Special Presentation - World premiere

Black Human Rights War

MUSCLE

Director: Karimah Ashadu

Year: 2025

With no single protagonist or linear narrative, the film immerses the viewer in a spectacle of strength through an intimate portrait of bodybuilders in the slums of Lagos. Inflated muscles, bulging veins and luminous skin glistening with sweat fill the screen. Shot almost entirely in close-ups, the camera hovers so near its subjects, moving softly like breath on skin, that at times figures become blurred, abstracted forms. Karimah Ashadu’s slow, measured pans across backs, chests and arms meditate on visibility, drawing attention to the embodiment and representation of the Black male body without rendering it singular or fixed. The metallic clang of barbells is punctuated with guttural sounds of exertion set against the ambience of the streets. Breath and muscle move in syncopated sonic choreography, and the men’s commitment to the ritual of maintaining the body is evident. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Forum Expanded - International Premiere

Experimental Black Sport Woman Director