If Little Red Riding Hood Enters the Forest is my first documentary. That my very first film tells my own story is deeply meaningful to me. I have never been someone who enjoys being in front of the camera. On the contrary, I am someone who finds joy in holding the camera and listening to other people’s stories. But this story came and found me; not telling it would have been a great injustice, first to myself, and then to the thousands of headscarf-wearing women living in Türkiye. That is why I decided to step in front of the camera and tell my own story.

If Little Red Riding Hood Enters the Forest follows the story of a young woman fighting to exist at the university she had earned the right to attend while wearing a headscarf. That university was the Radio, Television, and Cinema Department at Ege University. Until 2015, and even today, there have been almost no strong, honest documentaries that directly confront the headscarf ban at universities. Most documentaries and videos on the subject portrayed women as weak, shown crying on screen. I wanted to break that mold. Because showing myself crying while fighting for my rights would have done nothing but make me and other women like me appear powerless.

In reality, I was engaged in a harsh struggle with the university administration, my classmates, and the system itself, and I felt I had to stand strong. Above all, the ban was utterly absurd. Why should I cry? I chose strength. Instead of tears, I chose to mock and expose the senselessness of this meaningless prohibition.

If Little Red Riding Hood Enters the Forest is the story of my resistance against the so-called “educated lords” who saw universities as their personal estates and ruled them as they pleased.

Yes, technically, the film has its shortcomings. It was made at a time when high-quality phones did not exist and even handheld cameras were bulky and heavy. I had to shoot many scenes with a hidden camera. In this story, content was always more important than technique.