Over the past few years, and especially since the attempted coup in 2016, Turkey has become an increasingly hostile place for journalists, media professionals and activists that oppose President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development party. A continuing purge has put tens of thousands of dissident figures in prison, and many have chosen to leave the country rather than risk detention.

In partnership with the organization Acting Out Awareness, a group of Turkish immigrants and asylum seekers in Chicago is putting on the Stateless Film Festival next Monday, March 18, at the Davis Theatre. Two of the affiliated Turkish filmmakers, Jonah Smart and Onur Tekmann, join us today alongside Andrea Sutherland from Acting Out Awareness, who organized the festival.