Zeynep Akcay

This paper summarizes the production process and the evolution of “Kam”, a pixilation/2D animation film, being developed in an iterative manner over three years in three different countries. By elaborating on the relationship between the aesthetic approach, the political stance and the production methodology of this film, I aim to demonstrate how animated language can create an evocative and visceral experience that expresses the primal, powerful energy of the female body and how this can challenge the overtly sexist conservative political discourse about women in Turkey.

Although not exactly a documentary film, Kam started as a response to the increasingly insolent affirmations coming from the top of government; for example, “Women should not laugh out loud in public”, or “They should not expose their pregnant bellies on the streets”, and more.

The iterative process of production consisted of first capturing the dancer’s improvisation with long exposure photography technique, which gave a series of still frames containing condensed motion, where the dancer’s body sometimes becomes hardly perceivable. After this shooting period, the project was put to rest due to moving in different countries. When these images were revisited, their bonds to the original choreography was looser and a new arrangement containing repetitive patterns akin to a ritualistic dance flow became possible. A new resting period followed this stage, which brought new interventions; this time, primitive drawings on top of the images, creating a more pronounced expression of the anger & the rebellious energy of the female body. The soundtrack, (consisting of a creative common (cc 3.0) song by an underground New York band Amolvacy) and the traces of motion captured in long exposure pictures allowed a stream-of-consciousness approach while creating this new 2D animated layer.

The rests and revisits, similar to the “incubation effect” in psychology, helped to create new connections from the original footage in each revisit, enabling the film to evolve into a stronger manifesto with different layers of animation. Having presented the earlier phase of this film in 31st SAS Conference last year in Lisbon, it also incorporates an ongoing academic track in its production process. Finally, the revisits allowed me to refine my own artistic approach, integrating the absurd and elusive imagery.

To view the work in progress film: https://vimeo.com/391646167 – password: kam

To view a video summarising the conservatisation of the political discourse which contains the aforementioned affirmations and more about women in Turkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sreUi-ahVdw

Zeynep Akcay is an animated filmmaker & scholar of Turkish origin. Focusing on the narrative strategies in different forms of animation, she is currently teaching at the Animation Program of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. After completing a BA degree in Istanbul Turkey, determined to be an animation artist, she moved to Montreal, Canada. Her studies continued concurrently with professional experience in animation and post-production companies. She moved back to Turkey to work as a lecturer in İzmir while completing her practice-based PhD, for which she made an interactive animated film for preschool children. She presented at international conferences and served as jury member in festivals; namely, 28, 29 & 31th SAS Conferences, Animafest Scanner IV, 4th Under The Radar Symposium, 9th AnimaSyros International Animation Festival, 4th Contact International Student Film Festival, and was one of invited filmmakers at “Le Voix des Femmes Festival” in Liege, Belgium.