Here to Stay
Synopsis
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
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Supported by Made of Truth: BFI Doc Society Short Film Fund
Simin Productions
Lucy Draper15A 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.
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