Festival Season:
June 2025
METAMORPHOSIS: WOMEN’S RESILIENCE TO OPPRESSION IN TÜRKIYE
Directors:
Writers:
Aslihan Kas
Deniz Kenan, Oznur Sahin
Producers:
Run Time:
1:08:11
Awarded for the following Category(s):
Awarded Category(s)
Metamorphosis: Women’s Resilience to Oppression in Türkiye is a powerful documentary that follows four courageous women who endured imprisonment, torture, and exile after the 2016 purge in Türkiye. Through intimate interviews, it sheds light on how they transformed pain into strength—reclaiming their identity, dignity, and voice. Their stories speak not only to injustice, but to the unbreakable will of women resisting in silence. The original language of this documentary is Turkish, and it is available with English voice-over and English subtitles. Two versions are available for submission: • Short version: 50 minutes • Full version: 1 hour 8 minutes Please let us know which version best suits your festival screening.
Submitter Statement
Metamorphosis: Women’s Resilience to Oppression in Türkiye "Metamorphosis" is the first women’s rights documentary by Advocates of Silenced Turkey, shedding light on the untold stories of courage, resistance, and rebirth in the face of authoritarian oppression. Following the 2016 state of emergency in Türkiye, over 150,000 civil servants and 50,000 private sector workers were purged. More than two million people were investigated, hundreds of thousands were detained, and women were disproportionately affected. Over 100,000 women are estimated to have been imprisoned or detained between 2016 and 2024. At least 191 women lost their lives—some drowned while crossing rivers in search of freedom, others died in prison due to denied medical treatment. Today, 759 women continue to live behind bars with their children. But this film is not about numbers. It’s about stories. It’s about women who were silenced, yet found their voice. It’s about pain transformed into power. Through in-depth interviews with four resilient women—a writer imprisoned for her words, a dormitory director subjected to sexual threats in custody, a judge detained alongside her husband, and a mother of four strip-searched in detention—Metamorphosis captures the invisible war on women’s dignity. These women are not only survivors. They are torchbearers. Some learned new languages in exile. Others rebuilt careers from the ashes. In prison, they read, studied, and resisted quietly—emerging from the shadows with unwavering strength. Metamorphosis: Women’s Resilience to Oppression in Türkiye is a haunting yet hopeful portrayal of modern-day injustice—and the extraordinary women who refuse to surrender. It is a reminder that behind every political purge and prison door lies a human story. One that demands to be seen, heard, and remembered.
Aslıhan Kas was born on March 19, 1981, in Erzurum, Türkiye. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Istanbul University. For 17 years, she worked as a teacher and administrator in educational institutions affiliated with the Hizmet Movement, where she also held leadership roles in various civil society organizations. In 2018, she relocated to New Jersey, USA. Since then, she has been an active volunteer with Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST), where she currently serves as a board member. She is also the Coordinator of the Social Genocide Exhibition, a powerful human rights installation launched in June 2022. Aslıhan Kas is the director of two award-winning human rights documentaries: 🎬 "The Other Children" – recipient of Best Human Rights Film at the Cannes World Film Festival 🎬 "Metamorphosis" – a groundbreaking documentary on women’s resilience to oppression in Türkiye She is a co-author of the book "Being the Other in Turkey", available on Amazon. In her personal life, she is married and the mother of two children.
Key Cast
Meral Simsek, Aysegul Goc
Hacer Yildiz, Isik Ugur
Other Credits