happiness (happiness)

Firat Yücel

This is an urgent desktop diary made at the intersection of a hectic digital landscape and the inner violence of modern colonization. The film chronicles the sleepless nights of a group of activists, eyes fixed on screens as they follow the news from Palestine and across the region. In Amsterdam, far from their home countries, police violence and the threat of deportation glue them to digital interfaces night after night. Engaging with anti-colonial resistance across screens and streets, happiness is a humble reminder to keep searching for solutions.

the Netherlands, Turkey 2025, '18

DIRECTOR: Firat Yücel

SCENARIO: Fırat Yücel, Aylin Kuryel

CAMERA: Fırat Yücel

PRODUCTION: Image Acts

FESTIVALS & AWARDS:

IDFA
Visions du Réel
BFI London FF
Vancouver IFF
Beijing International Short FF
Uppsala Short FF

Firat Yücel

Firat Yücel is a documentary producer and editor who lives and works in Amsterdam and Istanbul. He is also the curator behind the video series Altyazı Fasikül: Free Cinema, which is part of the Altyazı Cinema Association, dedicated to supporting political film and video makers at risk in Turkey and elsewhere. His work is centred around collective filmmaking and resistance against censorship, while his documentaries focus on topics like exile, surveillance and the right to the city – in forms including the video essay, desktop documentary and biopic, among others. Yücel is part of the BAK Cell, Utrecht, in the Fellowship for Situated Practice.