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MLSA documentary on media capture in Turkey, Russia, and Belarus debuts at TGS Academy
The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) premiered its documentary Our Glorious Past on Friday, August 16, at TGS Academy. The film explores the systematic suppression of press and expression freedoms in Turkey, Russia, and Belarus, as told through the experiences of exiled journalists.
Following the screening, Barış Altıntaş, MLSA Co-Director and one of the documentary's producers, spoke about the influx of Russian opposition journalists into Turkey after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and shared insights into the making of the film. Altıntaş noted that the documentary was produced through shoots conducted in three different countries.
Our Glorious Past highlights the transformation of media and freedom of expression in Turkey, Russia, and Belarus, focusing on how these freedoms have been systematically eroded.
The Russia segment of the documentary sheds light on the crackdown on independent media following Vladimir Putin's rise to power, featuring interviews with journalists Andrei Loshak, Elisaveta Ossetinskaya, Evgeni Titov, and Kirill Kharatian, who share their personal experiences.
The Turkey segment examines the decline of press freedom and the capture of the media over the past two decades, with interviews from exiled journalists Metin Cihan, Baransel Ağca, Banu Acun, and Çağdaş Kaplan.
In the Belarus section, the documentary portrays the harsh repression of opposition and the obliteration of independent media after the 2020 presidential elections under Alexander Lukashenko's regime, through the stories of journalists Oles Levchuk and Sergei Balai.
