Tag: Turkish film industry

By Nathan Williams BBC News

Lobby card for Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves The World) Cetin Inanc’s 1982 film Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam has been dubbed the Turkish Star Wars

From The Dark Knight Rises to The Amazing Spider-Man, superheroes dominate the box office at this time of year. But a long way from the million-dollar Hollywood films, there is another group of caped crusaders who have caught the imagination of film fans the world over.

The film opens with an image of space decked in twinkling Christmas decorations.

The Superman theme kicks in and the familiar S-logo floats over the top, looking rather hand-drawn.

Soon we are following Clark Kent set out on his adventures. Only the bespectacled man is not Kent at all, it is someone called Tayfun and he is living in rural Turkey.

He is the star of Supermen Donuyor, meaning The Return of Superman – a 1979 Turkish remake of Richard Donner’s 1978 classic.

That is just the beginning. From the 1960s to 1980s Turkish popular cinema – dubbed Yesilcam (Green Pine) – produced a large number of films that borrowed storylines and ideas from American blockbusters and pop culture. Some even lifted entire sequences and scores from Hollywood.

via BBC News – The Turk who saved the world (and other stories).

more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18851790

Metin Erksan’s Revenge of the Snakes (1962)

Back in 1987, when I was first hired to be Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, I began sharing my ideas for the kinds of series I hoped to bring to the still-being-constructed Walter Reade Theater with members of my Board of Directors. As I went down my list of proposed projects—some eventually realized, some not—our Board Chairman at the time, Alfred Stern, asked “Why don’t we do a major series on Turkish cinema?” Well, Alfred, it took us almost 25 years, but after a few false starts, we finally got there!

Part of the programming philosophy of the Film Society, especially since the inception of our year-round presentation of films at the Walter Reade Theater, has been to “help write film history” by trying to fill in the gaps that exist in terms of our knowledge of certain artists, periods or national cinemas. Those historical gaps become especially clear when suddenly a national cinema about which we know very little begins producing a number of provocative, high quality works. Experience teaches that these “waves” don’t come out of nowhere: they’re generally the fruit of trends and developments that have existed sometimes for years, outside of the purview of most international film critics and scholars.

Such is very much the case with Turkey. The recent international celebration of filmmakers such as Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Fatih Akın, Özcan Alper, Yeşim Ustaoğlu and Reha Erdem has shined a bright spotlight on contemporary filmmaking in Turkey, which has clearly become one of the national cinemas to watch. Yet their great achievements, not surprisingly, rest on a solid foundation of courageous, ambitious filmmaking that has been part of cultural life in Turkey since at least the Fifties. That cinema—which one might call, with reservations, an “art cinema”—existed alongside for many years a large, prolific film industry, known as Yeşilçam (the Turkish Hollywood or perhaps Bollywood) that created, remarkably, over 200 films a year by the late Sixties. As in Italy and Japan, the existence of a thriving popular cinema provided the basis for the emergence of artists looking to make most personal works, and in fact several of the filmmakers featured in our selection moved back and forth between Yeşilçam and their own, more personal projects.

As in so many countries, postwar neo-realism had a huge impact on Turkish filmmakers, an impact that can be seen in the earliest films in this series. In films such as Three Friends (Üç Arkadaş, 1958), Dry Summer (Susuz Yaz, 1963) and Revenge of the Snakes (Yılanların Öcü, 1962), the impulse to document the sights and sounds of Turkey, to render the texture of life, juts up against the conventions of genre and classical storytelling. That impulse to present an unfiltered reflection of Turkey on screen would continue even as the films become more pointed in their criticism of social conditions and lack of progress for many of Turkey’s least fortunate citizens. This cinema of social engagement would of course reach its apogee in the works of Yılmaz Güney, the first filmmaker from Turkey to achieve international recognition, but would continue to evolve in the works of Erden Kıral, Ali Özgentürk and others even as the Turkish military was clamping down on free expression in the arts.

Yet as happened in so many other national cinemas, by the Eighties the “personal” had become inextricably bound up with the political, and filmmakers in Turkey that responded with a number of important works that focused on even the most sensitive emotional relations, as in Motherland Hotel (Anayurt Oteli, 1987), Despite Everything (Herşeye Rağmen, 1988), or My Aunt (Teyzem, 1987). These works and others examined the at times stubborn continuity of attitudes or ways of life even in a society undergoing rapid change at every level. They also opted for a more intimate cinematic style, sometimes confounding the physical world with their characters’ fantasies or desires.

The current generation of filmmakers in Turkey—that generation that has brought this cinema to new heights of achievement as well as international recognition—draws on these deep wells of national film traditions as well as a wide assortment of external models. It is our hope—those of us at the Film Society as well as our partners in the Moon and Stars Project—that this series will serve not only help explain the roots of the current Turkish film boom, but also introduce (or re-introduce) a number of films and filmmakers from the past all more than worthy of further study. A crossroads—geographically, culturally, politically—Turkey each year seems to become a more important, more influential part of the international community; it’s our bet that within just a few years, we’ll be saying the same thing about its cinema.

via An Introduction to the Cinema of Turkey | Filmlinc.com | Film Society of Lincoln Center.

4 March 2012 / GAMZE GÜL, İSTANBUL

An increase in the number of TV shows and movies being shot in Turkey is expected to boost interest from international filmmakers in cooperating with the Turkish movie industry.

İstanbul in particular has become a hub for actors and actresses, as well as those working behind the scenes to produce these entertainment products.

After the implementation of an incentive package for the film industry by the government in 2004, the number of domestic movies produced in Turkey increased from 29 in 2005 to nearly 70 in 2011, data published by the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) indicate. However, since 2005, 78 percent of movies produced in Turkey have received no support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Association of Film Directors, Writers and Composers (SETEM) President Mehmet Güleryüz noted a rise in the number of young professionals working in the sector in recent years, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. He has observed a correlation between a rise in the number of people following popular TV series and the increasing popularity of careers in film and television production.

According to Güleryüz, movies produced in Turkey usually match their box office expectations. He believes the current growth in popularity was unexpected and that detailed plans need to be drawn up in order to ensure the sustainable growth of the industry.

Between 2005 and 2011, 35,675 hours of Turkish TV programs were sold to broadcasters in 76 countries around the world, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Programs were broadcast in the Middle East, as well as Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, New Caledonia, Niger, Senegal, Singapore, Somalia, Vietnam and a number of Balkan countries. Television companies in Israel and Greece have also purchased Turkish TV programs. Güleryüz pointed out that new rules had been introduced by the government in order to support the sector, but added that there has not been much progress in implementing them. He also highlighted the fact that associations representing each area of the industry came together under one roof about a year ago to defend the rights of individuals working in the sector.

Association of Cinematographic Work Copyright Holders (SİNEBİR) President İsmail Güneş highlighted Turkey’s natural beauty, saying: “The country itself is a great movie production site because people have lived here continuously for 5,000 years. Wherever you place the camera, the chances of getting a great shot are high.” He said the government has neglected its role in advertising this aspect of Turkey, adding: “When foreigners want to produce a movie, they go to the Turkish consulate in their own country. Since the personnel working there do not have much knowledge of the sector, bureaucracy gets in the way of bringing international film producers to Turkey.”

He pointed out the importance of the foreign language assets of many young professionals and believes working together would provide professionals from different countries the opportunity to gain mutual understanding of the production process and learn new techniques.

Erol Bilge, a board member of the Casting Agencies Association (Kastder), said İstanbul is a crowded, dynamic and beautiful city with a young population, adding, “These people are eager to earn more money.” He said there are currently 60-70 acting agencies in Turkey with a total of around 10,000 members.

Movie Producers Association of Turkey (SEYAP) Vice President Baran Seyhan believes the contribution of these movies and series to Turkey have an inherent social value that goes beyond their box office turnover. According to Seyhan, sometimes movie producers face bureaucratic problems, but with the implementation of minor changes, these can often be overcome. He also pointed out that associations are actively working to solve these issues and that the government must create a “working group” to explore these difficulties and other industry concerns.

Association of Film Artists (BİROY) President Atilla Engin said the movie sector is not capable of financing itself, and directors, writers and actors often have to take part in the production of TV series to make a living. Engin believes the movie sector is not necessarily being supported by the government, as a lot of the financial support is funded through fees levied on movie ticket sales. He said: “There are issues regarding taxation and sponsorship. Laws and regulations need to be updated. Incentives and support must be given and technical arrangements must be made to sell Turkish movies abroad. The government should also work on copyright issues, including the distribution of copyright fees among the associations and unions.”

via İstanbul-based film industry: a rising star worldwide.