What Is at Stake
The Sarıkeçili Yörüks are one of the last remaining nomadic communities in Türkiye led by women, and guided by a way of life rooted in movement, memory, and relationship to the land.
Each year, they migrate over 200 miles across the Taurus Mountains. This journey is not only cultural—it sustains fragile ecosystems, preserves biodiversity, and maintains a rhythm between humans, animals, and nature that has existed for generations.
Today, that rhythm is under threat.
- Land is being privatized, cutting off ancestral migration paths
- Routes are closing, making seasonal movement increasingly impossible
- Water sources are disappearing, disrupted by dam construction
- Social pressures are rising, as settled communities view this way of life as something to leave behind
What is at risk is not only a community—but a living philosophy of belonging without ownership.
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This film seeks to shift how we understand belonging, ownership, and our relationship to land.
By offering a lived perspective on nomadic life, it challenges dominant narratives of progress rooted in accumulation and control. It invites audiences to consider alternative frameworks—where connection, continuity, and interdependence shape identity.
At a time when cultural homogenization and environmental pressures are accelerating, Guardians of Anatolia serves as both a record and a reflection: a way to witness, engage with, and ultimately help protect knowledge systems that are at risk of disappearing.