Exploring portrayals of vulnerability in post-2011 refugee films in Turkish cinema

Abstract Forced migration has become a major global humanitarian concern, profoundly shaping the lives of displaced populations and host communities. Vulnerability, a fundamental dimension of human existence, underscores interdependence while exposing individuals to uncertainty and sociopolitical pressures, which are intensified by forced displacement. Turkey has become one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world since the Syrian conflict began in 2011 and thus provides a critical context for examining these dynamics. This study investigates how post-2011 Turkish films about Syrian refugees depict the vulnerabilities of displaced individuals, employing a phenomenological framework that foregrounds embodiment, perception, and ethical relations. Through an analysis of six feature films—Abandoned, The Guest, More, Saf, Omar and Us, and Müjde—it examines how cinematic form constructs refugee subjectivities and challenges dominant moral and perceptual assumptions. By analyzing formal cinematic structures alongside narrative representation, the study identifies the strategies through which refugee vulnerability becomes affectively perceptible. Framing vulnerability as both ontological and structurally produced, the analysis demonstrates cinema’s capacity to disclose vulnerability and to unsettle normative ways of seeing. Ultimately, the study contributes to refugee film scholarship and migration studies by revealing cinema’s potential to foster more inclusive and ethically responsive modes of visual engagement.