Lutfiye Kavci never set out to be the star of a film, but when her ex-husband tried to kill her, he redirected the trajectory of her future, setting her on a powerful new path to change the world he tried to remove her from, for the better.
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What he did is not the focus of Lutfiye’s Story, a documentary currently being filmed in Shepparton about the victim-survivor.
What she did and continues to do in the wake of it is the source of Sydney-based production company Hazen’s inspiration.
“The film focuses on Lutfiye’s advocacy, following her work as a keynote speaker, attending rallies and school talks, as well as joining law-changing discussions as a Living Experience Advisory Group member with the Victims of Crime Commissioner in Melbourne,” producer Ena Nam said.
“We also show the continued impacts and challenges of her own violent past, which continue to resurface in her everyday life.”
Ms Nam said Ms Kavci retraced both the October 2021 incident on a suburban Shepparton street and her recovery journey in a series of interviews.
“The re-telling of her attempted murder story becomes a transformative opportunity for Lutfiye to reclaim her past on her own terms, in a powerful reinstatement of her agency,” she said.
“As we follow Lutfiye on her mission to share her story, she comes into conversation with other victim-survivors, support workers and advocates in Shepparton.
“These conversations offer a space of connection and healing, but more importantly an opportunity for community members to voice their lived experiences of family violence and generational trauma and the issues they faced with justice, support and prevention systems.”
Hazen founder and executive producer Mustafa Allawi stumbled upon Ms Kavci’s story on social media earlier this year and reached out to the mother-of-one.
Ms Kavci said she didn’t expect to have a documentary made about her.
“Being chosen for this project makes me feel so proud of myself for coming so far in my journey,” she said.
“I feel thankful to Mustafa and his amazing team, who came all the way from Sydney.”
The bulk of the filming took place in Shepparton during November, which happened to coincide with some events Ms Kavci was booked to speak publicly at, including a school talk and an LEAG meeting in Melbourne, which the film crew accompanied her to.
“In between that time we also filmed other scenes that are quite moving,” Ms Kavci said.
“Some scenes were quite vulnerable and hard to share.”
She said she found strength in challenging herself with difficult tasks, which is what drove her to push through the harder scenes.
“That also comes within me and my passion to share my story to bring change, because I believe that if no-one hears or no-one knows what survivors go through then how will that bring change?” she said.
“How will the government hear us to emphasise with us to systematically bring change to other survivors?”
Ms Nam said the aim was to have the film completed around March next year for an April or May premiere, where a local audience would get the first glimpse.
“We hope to hold a premiere screening in Shepparton, followed by international festival entries,” Ms Nam said.
“We also aim to have the film on national television and online streaming platforms (to be confirmed).”
Ms Nam said she hoped that by this film giving Ms Kavci a voice to reclaim her story in her own words, it could help to reverse the shame and stigma that surrounds family violence and encourage communities — both in Shepparton and Australia-wide — to start conversations about prevention and breaking violent cycles.
“We also aim to highlight the systemic challenges faced by victim-survivors trying to navigate justice and support systems,” she said.
“For example, the film highlights the various hurdles Lutfiye is facing when trying to access housing support despite being on the priority list for over three years.”
As not only a survivor, but a mother, advocate, business owner and individual, Ms Kavci brings a very human face to the issues Hazen hopes to highlight through this production.
“We want to challenge harmful stereotypes and limiting representations about women and victim-survivors,” Ms Nam said.
“It was therefore really important that we capture Lutfiye’s ups and downs, presenting her as a three-dimensional individual with many sides.”
While the film will be distributed far and wide to address the universal issue of family violence, Ms Nam said the primary audience would be the Shepparton community, given it has one of the highest rates of family violence in Victoria.
“We hope that by empathising with Lutfiye’s story, people will have an increased understanding of how to recognise and respond to domestic violence and encourage cultures of respect,” she said.
Ms Nam said Shepparton had been a “wonderful” place to film the feature in.
“The surrounding areas, parks and lakes are so beautiful and everyone has been so welcoming and accommodating,” she said.
“We also met many people and organisations who are actively involved in education and prevention initiatives around family violence in Shepparton and were hugely inspired to witness their work.”
Ms Nam described Ms Kavci as a unique and precious human being, who “deserves nothing but kindness and respect”.
“Stories allow us to see ourselves in each other and remind ourselves of our own humanity,” she said.
“I hope this story of Lutfiye’s lived experience will touch this part in people’s hearts and inspire change.”