FIRE IN HER BONES
THE WEEK|April 03, 2022
An ISIS bomb might have taken her legs, but Turkish filmmaker Lisa Calan’s spirit remains buoyant
CITHARA PAUL
FIRE IN HER BONES

STANDING TALL Lisa Calan at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram

When Lisa Calan—clad in a traditional white Kurdish gown and stylish turban—walked onto the inaugural stage of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram to receive the first-ever ‘Spirit of Cinema’ award, there was a standing ovation. Not many among the audience had seen her films, but everyone could feel the fiery spirit that stood onstage clutching a walking stick in one hand and red roses in the other. As she stood there, all smiles, waiting for the applause to get over, nobody could guess that she was limbless waist down. She stood tall on her prosthetic legs.

“I have travelled a long way to be here. My story is also long.... All I wanted was to make good films. But I lost both my legs in 2015 in an ISIS bomb attack. It took me years to stand up again. But now I am full of energy,” she said after receiving the award from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “As someone representing a society that is fighting for its survival, my films are my acts of resistance.” She dedicated the award to the victims of the 2015 massacre in the Turkish town of Suruç.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 03, 2022 من THE WEEK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 03, 2022 من THE WEEK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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