Movie profile

There's No Such Place Called Allianoi

When saving the future means losing the past.

Allianoi, one of the world's best-preserved ancient health centres, was discovered during excavations and later submerged by the construction of a dam in Pergamon, Türkiye. The project gave rise to one of Türkiye's first large-scale civil resistance movements, decades of legal battles and political decisions that shaped the site's fate. For local farmers, the dam promised reliable irrigation after years of waiting. Through personal testimonies, archival materials, animation and footage filmed on location, the documentary tracks a conflict in which cultural heritage and everyday survival became impossible to separate.

Directed by Elif Nur Kayalar