Now you can watch “Under The Road, The River!” on MUBI.
Ankara’s Streams Hidden Underground
“Let’s say your home is in the Çayyolu neighbourhood and you commute to your workplace in Cebeci or Dikimevi every day. Do you realise that you cross at least 15 covered streams every day in one direction only?”
Kavaklidere*, Hosdere, Bentderesi, Cevizlidere, Incesu avenue… Ankara residents are not aware, but every day while walking on the streets and avenues of Ankara, they are actually passing over the underground streams.
When Ankara was declared as the capital of the young Republic in 1923, another element that would bring life to the city stood out in the early plans of this city, which had no seaside; streams. This city, which was rebuilt in the first half of the 20th century and hosted Atatürk’s revolutions, lost its streams as it grew. The streams continue to flow quietly under the streets of this capital, that is known as “grey city” today, but the majority of the inhabitants continue their daily life without realizing it. A group of activists who remember these lost streams and wonder what happened to them, continue to trace them. Do the streams found in old photographs, memories and maps still live underground?
“Under the road, the river!” documentary traces the lost streams of Ankara and sheds light on the struggle to bring these streams back to the daylight.
What kind of a capital city was imagined when Ankara was rebuilt in the Republican Era?
Transformation of Old Ankara, Foundation of the New City:
“These two water traces (İnce Su and Tabakhane streams) surround the residential area of the city with a natural belt, which can be seen to form a natural park around the city. If a bird’s eye view is taken from an aeroplane or a general photograph of the city is taken, it is certain that this effect is formed in the general appearance of the city according to the water sources. If this feature and opportunity endowed by nature is well utilised and applied, the city, which today looks barren and soulless, can be given the form of a garden city surrounded by the greenery of a park.” Lörcher Plan, 1924
Director: Yasin Semiz
Adviser: Hasan Akyar, Erman Tamur, Ahmet Soyak
Research: Onur Bektaş, Elçin Deniz Özdamar, Okan Çağrı Bozkurt, Çiğdem Adem
Assistant Director: Özgür Boğazlıyanlıoğlu
Animation: Cansu Karaman, Muharrem Akgül
Afiş: Nurafer Enginler
Camera: Cem Akbulut
Sound: Selçuk Kültür
Music: Teneke Trampet, Golden Horn
Featuring: Hasan Akyar, Duygu Cihanger, Ahmet Soyak, Önder Algedik, Erman Tamur, Bilge Bektaş, İdil Börtücene, İsa Çapanoğlu, Kumru Arapgirlioğlu, Mehmet Tunçer, Okan Çağrı Bozkurt, Bülent Batuman
Archive: İMO Ankara Şubesi, Mimarlar Derneği 1927, Vekam