The boy under the portrait of the martyr. Narrative strategies to represent the circle of violence, when the need to visualise collides with ethical boundaries.

Ellen Vermeulen
Promotors: Klaas Tindemans, Sarah Vanagt

Filmmaker Ellen Vermeulen stayed in Kurdistan, Turkey, during the city wars of 2015 to prepare a film about young people on the threshold to armed resistance. The film aimed to explore what drives someone to make such a radical choice and to depict the conditions leading to a departure to the mountains. 

Vermeulen found herself amidst a fertile breeding ground: guerrillas and rebellious youth had seized Kurdish towns in defiance of severe repression, sparking fierce counter-violence. The state employed every means, sparing no lives. 

Returning from this threshold, Vermeulen realized the proposed film was impossible. Discussing these disruptive events seemed legally and ethically unfeasible, and in the meantime, the characters had disappeared: they were killed, jailed, or had returned to the mountains. 

How does one articulate a situation that feels utterly hopeless, where the only perceived refuge seems to be the mountains? How can these events still be made accessible and shareable? How to talk about this circle of violence? 

The artistic research questions the position of the filmmaker in relation to these disruptive events and the rebellious and resilient characters. 

This research is presented in the form of a text and a visual essay, titled Restless Stones.