Loophole Keepers

Loophole Keepers is a film-essay produced in 2022, which takes a look into the relationships and dependencies that arise from the global waste trade.

In 2018, China stopped the import of waste from Western nations. This is when the eyes of the European nations landed on Turkey. Since then, Turkey has been the largest importer of Western plastic scrap, with over 660,000 tons of plastic being imported into the nation in 2020. This equates to roughly to 241 trucks-full of plastic on a daily basis.

The film-essay acts as an on-site reportage into the exploitative conditions of waste workers in Istanbul, Turkey and explores the lives of the people who have are given no alternative but to live and work with the waste which enters their lives as a result of neoliberal policies.

CREDITS

Written, directed and produced by Derin Erenoglu
Co-written and narrated by Cheyenne Stutzriem
Sound and music by Daniel Mikic

Further thanks to Taylan Akarca, Lara Huz, Alex Ryan, Iqbal Barkat, Moritz Meisenbichler & Joshua Lewis Goldstein
For access to the film or research behind it, contact us!