[B] Film Screening: Silent Death

Film series on Isolation

"The feeling that your head is about to explode (the feeling that the  skull should actually tear apart, burst) - the feeling that your spinal  cord is being pressed into your brain - the feeling that your brain is  gradually shrinking like dried fruit, for example - the feeling that you  are constantly, imperceptibly under electric current, that you are  being remotely controlled - the feeling that associations are being  chopped away - the feeling that you are pissing your soul out of your  body, as if you can't hold the water - the feeling that the cell is  moving. You wake up, open your eyes: the cell is moving; in the  afternoon, when the sun shines in, it suddenly stops. You cannot stop feeling the movement."
-Ulrike Meinhof

The movie “The Silent Death” was released on 2001 just after the introduction of F-Type isolation prisons in Turkey, in the midst of propaganga by bourgeoisie media that, isolation cells are actually good for inmates because they are “hygienic” and prisoners can “enjoy their time alone”. Director describes the movie as; “Through the different interviews made with political detainees and  former prisoners in Germany, Italy, Spain, North Ireland and the USA and  with their families, we will try to show that the European prison  system and the isolation cell system all around the world, is not the  ideal system as propagated by the Turkish authorities”.

Like many countries, before the introduction of high security prisons and isolation, Turkey had only dormitory prison system. There inmates were staying together in wards, and were able to organize themselves according to their needs and political affliation. A prisoner could be incarcerated for petty crimes and come out of prison totally politicized and educated on issues they never knew before. This was a very common practice in all around the world until very recently. As counter-insurgency policies shifted from punishment of subversive political action, towards isolating society away from groups and individuals who are related to subversive actions, high security prisons and isolation became the norm. Today, it is unconscionable in most of the countries (with few interesting exceptions like Greece) that a political person, especially the ones that are accused of militant actions, can end up in same prison space as other inmates or their comrades. The Silent Death is a time capsule that brings us back to a point where, this was not the case and arguments against isolation were stronger.

This screening is the first part of a series of films about isolation and prisons. Briefly, the second film is the F-Type film by Grup Yorum, which explains the consequences of the introduction of isolation prisons with 10 short films by different directors. The third film is a video essay that explains the newly built SRY type prison complexes and the struggle against them.After the film there will be time for dicussion and exchange.