Pencere (The Window)

Caught between tradition and her desire for childhood joy, Rümeysa, a 7 year-old, defies her mother’s insistence on early maturity, determined to hold onto her playful spirit despite societal expectations of marriage in their village.

Child marriages were an issue I was aware of since my own childhood, growing up in Turkey. In 2022, while I was visiting my parents back home, the shocking news of a woman who was married off at age six was circulating non-stop in the media. As a grown woman, she came out and denounced the people who took her childhood away from her, including her father, a religious figure. Due to the father’s status and the marriage being a religious one, a tradition still respected to this day in Turkey, the government not only didn’t support her but also went as far as to punish the journalists covering the story. This news really affected me and made me angry towards anyone who uses religion to ruin innocent children’s lives forever. I channeled my anger and disappointment towards making this film. Child marriages to me are legalized child rape, and in this film, I hope I could be the voice of voiceless little girls like my protagonist, Rümeysa.