Özlem Özdemir Receives an Award from Athens for Her Documentary “Türkan: The Story of a kScientist” prepared with the Contributions of ÇYDD!

Producer Özlem Özdemir won the “Honorable Mention” Award at the Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival with her documentary “Türkan: The Story of a Scientist”, which tells the life of Prof. Dr. Türkan Saylan.

“Türkan: The Story of a Scientist”, which competed in the Best Documentary category, was selected as one of the best 3 films in the category and was awarded the Honorable Mention Award by the festival committee.

Journalist and Author Özlem Özdemir, who undertook the production of the documentary and also signed the script and voice-over, emphasized that Türkan Saylan is a name that should be known worldwide and expressed her feelings as follows; “First of all, words cannot express how happy this news makes me. I never expected my first production experience to be honored at an international festival. But most importantly, it is very valuable that this happened with the documentary where I told the story of Türkan Saylan, it was a milestone in my career, I think it is also a source of pride for Türkiye,” she shared.

Özlem Özdemir, who stated that she prepared the documentary with the support of ÇYDD for the 100th anniversary of the Republic, said, “I sent the film to many local and foreign festivals that I thought were suitable, but my aim was not to get an award but to make people aware of Türkan Saylan. I am proud to have contributed to this issue. I would like to thank ÇYDD President Prof. Dr. Ayşe Yüksel once again, who shared my excitement from the idea to the production stage and supported the production. I had the film completely re-done from beginning to end in technical terms so that it would have a better chance in competitions this year. My director Gülay Ayyıldız Yiğitcan, who did a magnificent job in this regard and to whose support I am grateful, cannot be repaid. We, two women, combined our strengths and produced a documentary worthy of Türkan Saylan with our own means,” she informed.

Özdemir emphasized that she will continue her work more determinedly with this official honor and shared clues about her new projects: “We created a brand called Pioneer Women of the Republic for the 100th year of our Republic, the first production of this brand was the ‘Pioneer Women of the Republic Exhibition’. Türkan Saylan was also a part of the exhibition as a Republican woman. We carried out that exhibition and essentially the creation process of the brand together with another very successful woman, Açık Holding Vice President of Marketing Şehrinaz Kartal Koşbay. We can say that this documentary was a leg of that brand. In 2025, we will have new projects to be the voice of women again with our brand. I tell the stories of the women who built the Republic, but fortunately, there are also women around me who raised the Republic and we write our stories together.”

The documentary titled “Türkan: The Story of a Scientist”; a Republican woman, an idealist scientist and a pioneer of contemporary education, Prof. Dr. Türkan Saylan explores the inspiring biography of Türkan Saylan and her life as a scientist and as a woman. The documentary will be available for everyone to watch starting in the fall.