The movie "14 Temmuz" (July 14) about the historic resistance of the political prisoners in the prison of Amed has been screened in St. Petersburg.

The movie directed by Haşim Aydemir recounts the happenings which took place after the military putsch in 1980 and the atrocities the state perpetrated in the prison of Amed (Diyarbakır). The film tells about the resistance of imprisoned PKK members in the prison.

The situation of pervasive torture and injustice in Turkish prisons was previously reflected in the works of communist writes Nâzım Hikmet and Orhan Kemal and in some films like The Midnight Express by Oliver Stones or The Road, directed by Yilmaz Güney.

Director Haşim Aydemir tells a story on the heroic resistance in the military prison of Amed in 1982. There were many heroes and heroines among the imprisoned revolutionaries such as Mazlum Doğan, Kemal Pir, Hayri Durmuş, Ali Çiçek, Mustafa Karasu, Akif Yılmaz, Farhat Kurtay and Sakine Cansiz.

The film begins with the moment when the prison authorities decide to break the will of the revolutionaries and resort to measures that exceed all legal and moral laws.

This film contains some terrible violent scenes, which are unfortunately historically accurate. The main villain resembles us of SS officer. Even his uniform reminds of Nazi uniform along with the atmosphere of hatred and fear spread in the prison, which suspiciously conflated with some concentration camp. All these director's tricks can account for the heights and the fullest immersion into the situation of widespread violence in Turkish prisons.

The highlight of the film is the scene when the Kurdish revolutionary hero Mazlum Doğan and his four comrades set themselves on fire. In protest against the injustice and tortures, they set themselves on fire оn March 21, the day of Newroz, Kurdish New Year.

Toward the end, the movie tells the story of Kemal Pir and Ali Çiçek who continued their death fasts for 60 days. Both died because of their death fasts but didn’t give up.

Particular attention should be paid to the scene of women’s resistance. For instance, Sakine Cansiz became a symbol of women’s emancipation with her struggle in prison. The film highlights the role of women in preserving a revolutionary spirit. No jailer succeeded to break Sakine’s spirit.

The scene of the meeting of prisoners and their relatives was one of the most touching and uptight moment of the film. Any visit in Turkish prisons required communication in Turkish. Therefore, the meetings were often silent.

The film ends with a scene of popular uprising that followed the heroic deeds of PKK members. Those acts of heroism gave hope to people that the revolution would continue and made a great evidence that determination for freedom was stronger than all prisons.