On the Dry Rock by Yesim Ustaoglu, Jasmin Selen Heinz Review

The construction of the massive Yusufeli Dam in northeastern Turkey has transformed the landscape of Artvin Province, forever altering the course of the Çoruh River and the lives of the communities that once thrived along its banks. Standing approximately 275 meters high, the dam is the tallest in Turkey and among the tallest in the world, built as part of a broader effort to harness the powerful river for hydroelectric energy. Its completion in the early 2020s created a vast reservoir that gradually submerged the original town of Yusufeli and several surrounding villages, bringing an end to a settlement that had existed in the narrow valley for generations. As the waters slowly rose between 2022 and 2023, thousands of residents were relocated to a newly constructed town built on higher ground roughly seven kilometers away. Homes, businesses, and community landmarks were abandoned, while streets, orchards, and memories disappeared beneath the reservoir. This dramatic transformation forms the backdrop of the documentary “On the Dry Rock”, which examines the emotional, cultural, and social consequences of the relocation, capturing the experience of a community forced to rebuild its life while watching its past vanish under water. A Song Without Home is screening at Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival Yesim Ustaoglu and Jasmin Selen Heinz present a documentary that unfolds along two axes throughout its 82-minute runtime. The first, courtesy of Jasmin Selen Heinz’s cinematography, captures the crumbling flooded area and the modern new town in a manner that highlights the beauty of both, through a series of images that could easily belong to a photography album. Particularly the panoramic shots of the dam and the wider area are likely to remain in the viewer’s memory. The second axis is more socially conscious and considerably more dramatic, as people who once lived in the old town describe the difficulties the relocation brought to their lives. Businesses were closed, fields had to be abandoned or relocated with great difficulty, and older residents who owned cattle were forced to keep them on the old land, driving back daily to feed them. In general, life was disrupted in a way that has never fully recovered. One particularly painful issue is the relocation of ancestral graves, an experience narrated with great emotion and once more highlighting that the redevelopers did not particularly consider the people who had lived there for generations. Furthermore, as some of those forced to evacuate explain, the new housing developments were largely targeted toward wealthier buyers. Many former residents could not afford the high prices, while only a few received adequate new homes in the area. As they recount how the orchards, fields, and small gardens that once lined the valley were submerged together with the settlement, eliminating the community’s traditional agricultural base and forcing them to adapt to a completely different economic reality, their bitterness and righteous anger emerge as entirely understandable. Nevertheless, some residents retain a sense of optimism, occasionally encouraging others to view the situation from a more positive perspective. In doing so, they introduce a small sense of hope into a documentary that is otherwise rather bleak, despite the evident beauty of its imagery. The editing by Thomas Balkenhol, Hakan Aytekin, Svetolik Mica Zajc, Yesim Ustaoglu, and Jasmin Selen Heinz moves smoothly between the two axes, allowing a compelling antithesis to emerge that serves the narrative effectively. Through this structure, the past, present, and possible future of the area are communicated clearly, creating a story that carries the documentary forward from beginning to end. Ultimately, “On the Dry Rock” is an artistic documentary that nevertheless succeeds in presenting its social commentary with clarity, resulting in a thoughtful and accomplished work. Tags:Jasmin Selen HeinzOn the Dry RockThessaloniki Documentary FestivalYesim Ustaoglu