Özgür Çiçek is a Philipp Schwartz Research Fellow who received her Ph.D. from Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture program at Binghamton University, New York. She was a visiting scholar at Brandenburg Centre for Media studies (ZeM), and Luigi Einaudi Chair Scholar at the European Studies Institute of Cornell University. Her research interests include national/transnational cinemas, 'minor' cinemas, migrant cinemas, memory studies, and documentary filmmaking. For her current project, she examines the motivations and dynamics behind Kurdish filmmaking in Germany.

Three Quick Questions:

                                                                                                                                                                                                      In a few words, can you tell us about your current research interest?

My current research interests are twofold. In addition to researching on the migrant Kurdish film aesthetics originating from Germany, lately I am also looking at new digital aesthetics and narratives emerging from online and on-demand TV networks in Turkey, like Netflix Turkey and BluTV.

How do you relate the term poiesis to your work?

I can relate poiesis to film's crafting of the present time. For instance, when memories of an untold past are revealed through film, it's as if an untold time splash from the screen and occupy such a presence that transforms here and now.

Which film or other audiovisual format has resonated with you lately and why?

I recently watched Christian Petzold's UNDINE on Mubi. Its cyclical time from myth through narrative time influences me a lot in terms of questioning the possibilities of narrativizing what lies beneath.