Documentary screening: "Expelled for Peace" by Osman Okkan | Director present

Description :

Doc Café Welcomes Director Osman Okkan – Screening of "Driven for Peace" on Friday, September 11
The Kalamata Creative Documentary Centre continues its Doc Café summer screenings with a special event: on Friday, September 11, at sunset, the documentary Driven for Peace – When Greeks and Turks Were Separated (Germany, 2003), directed by Osman Okkan and Simone Sitte, will be screened in the presence of the filmmaker, who will engage in a Q&A session with the audience following the film.
Produced by ARTE and WDR TV and filmed largely in Lesvos and Crete, the documentary explores the context and consequences of the 1923 compulsory population exchange between Greece and Turkey under the Treaty of Lausanne—a decision that displaced 1.5 million Christians and 500,000 Muslims. Through the memories of eyewitnesses and the journey of two displaced Muslims from Lesvos returning to their birthplaces, the film also gives voice to prominent cultural figures from both nations: Mikis Theodorakis, Yaşar Kemal, Zülfü Livaneli, and Maria Farantouri.
Osman Okkan, born in Ankara and based in Germany since 1965, is one of German television's most seasoned documentary filmmakers. With a longstanding collaboration with WDR, his body of work is dedicated to Turkish-German relations and human rights. His presence in Kalamata and the subsequent discussion offer a rare opportunity for the audience to speak directly with the creator of a work that remains remarkably timely more than twenty years after its release.