Here to Stay: an evening of music, film and conversation with Entropies

In collaboration with Global Cultures at Jesus College, the IF presents an evening of film and music from documentary maker Sheida Kiran and Entropies.

Director Sheida Kiran will join Matthew Webb, Director of Global Cultures at Jesus, for a discussion of excerpts from BFI Made of Truth Film Here to Stay and from her BBC Our World documentary Harvesting Turkey's Tea, accompanied by a live musical performance from Entropies.

Here to Stay tells the story of a mother in southeast Turkey fighting to preserve her indigenous heritage after the government seizes her ancestral olive lands.

Harvesting Turkey's Tea is a film about women who pick tea on the steep slopes of Turkey's Black Sea region. Their work is physically demanding, and traditionally, much of their earnings has gone to their husbands. The film follows younger women who hope change is on the horizon, alongside older generations who fear losing the way of life they have always known.

Both films have been scored by Entropies, a neoclassical music project that combines live sound and moving image to explore powerful human stories.

About the speakers

Sheida Kiran is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and composer. Driven by a passion for ethnographic storytelling, her work focuses on women's rights, migration and relationship to land. Through her experience of scoring for film, she often uses music as a tool to build narratives. She has been reporting on the earthquakes that happened in Turkey since March 2023. Her BBC Worldwide film Turkey's Earthquake: Those Who Stayed is now available to stream online. 

Entropies are a musical project featuring vocals, keys, violin, cello, and percussion, to create an evocative blend of alternative, neo-classical, ambient pop & jazz.

Entropies have composed songs for British-Turkish-Iranian lead vocalist and director Sheida Kiran’s films, producing scores that unite raw storytelling with powerful orchestral arrangements. Prior to scoring Here to Stay, their project, ‘Songs For Our Land’, drew inspiration from Sheida's BBC Our World documentary ‘Turkey's Earthquake: Those Who Stayed’, and was performed in sold-out shows in London and Cambridge.

Matthew Webb is Director of Global Cultures at Jesus. Matthew is an experienced cultural leader and Oxford Cultural Leaders alum. Global Cultures at Jesus offers unique cultural moments with world-class figures through regular events that are open to all.

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