The Cinema of Turkey or Turkish cinema (also formerly known as Yeşilçam, which translates literally to Green Pine in Turkish), () or Türk sineması refers to the Turkish film art and industry. It is an important part of Turkish culture, and has flourished over the years, delivering entertainment to audiences in Turkey, Turkish expatriates across Europe, the Balkans & Eastern Europe, also more recently prospering in the Arab world alongside the Egyptian cinema and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world.
The first film exhibited in the Ottoman Empire was the Lumière Brothers' 1895 film, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat, which was shown in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) in 1896. The Weavers (1905), by the Manaki brothers, was the first film made in the country. The earliest surviving film made in what is present-day Turkey was a documentary entitled Ayastefanos'taki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı (Demolition of the Russian Monument at San Stefano), directed by Fuat Uzkınay and completed in 1914. The first narrative film in Turkey is not known for certain.
Turkey's first sound film, Bir Millet Uyanıyor, was shown in 1931. Western dramatic elements were incorporated into improvised traditional Turkish theatrical storytelling forms such as Meddah, orta oyunu, and Karagöz and Hacivat with the foundations of the Darülbedayi in 1914 and Ankara State Conservatory in 1936. Due to their training format, theater actors moved away from cinema or they only did dubbing. Turkish cinema started to evolve in the 1960s. During the Yeşilçam era, Turkey was the world's 4th biggest producer of cinema.
History Overview
In terms of film production, Turkey shared the same fate with many of the national cinemas of the 20th century. Film production wasn't continuous until around the 1950s and the film market in general was run by a few major import companies that struggled for domination in the most population-dense and profitable cities such as Istanbul and İzmir. Film theatres rarely ever screened any locally produced films and the majority of the programs consisted of films of the stronger western film industries, especially those of the United States, France, Italy and Germany. Attempts at film production came primarily from multinational studios, which could rely on their comprehensive distribution networks together with their own theatre chains, thus guaranteeing them a return on their investment. Between the years 1896–1945, the number of locally produced films did not even reach 50 films in total, equal to less than a single year's annual film production in the 1950s and 1960s. Domestically produced films constituted only a small fraction of the total number of films screened in Turkey prior to the 1950s.
Film production in Turkey increased drastically after World War II. With a total of 49 films produced in 1952, this single year equaled a greater output produced in Turkey than all previous years combined. During the 1960s, Turkey became the fifth biggest film producer worldwide as annual film production reached the 300-film benchmark just at the beginning of the 1970s. Compared to other national cinemas, the achievements of the Turkish film industry after 1950 are still remarkable.
During the 1970s, the impact of TV and video as the new popular forms of media and political turmoil (often hand in hand with deep economic crises) caused a sharp drop in ticket sales, resulting in a steady decline starting around 1980 and continuing until the mid-1990s. The number of annual ticket sales decreased from a peak of 90 million tickets in 1966Özön, Nijat (1966) Türk Sineması Kronolojisi 1896–1966. Istanbul: Bilgi Yayınları. to 56 million tickets in 1984 and only 11 million in 1990.T.C. Devlet Istatistik Enstitüsü Eğlence İstatistikleri. Accordingly, the number of film theatres declined from approximately 2,000 in 1966 to 854 in 1984 and 290 in 1990.T.C. Devlet İstatistik Enstitüsü Eğlence İstatistikleri. During the 1990s the average number of films produced per year remained between 10 and 15; usually half of them not even making it into the theatres.
Since 1995 the situation has improved. After the year 2000, annual ticket sales rose to 20 million and since 1995, the number of theatres has steadily increased to approximately 500 nationwide. Currently, Turkish films attract audiences of millions of viewers and routinely top the blockbuster lists, often surpassing foreign films at the box office. However, it is difficult to speak about the existence of an industry, since most films are rather individual projects of directors who otherwise earn their living in television, advertising or theatre. The distribution of these films are mainly handled by multinational corporations such as Warner Bros. and United International Pictures.
Pre-1950s
From 1923 to 1939, Muhsin Ertuğrul was the only active film director in the country. He directed 29 films during this period, generally incorporating adaptions of plays, operettas, fiction and foreign films. The influence of the theater dating back to Uzkınay, Simavi, Ahmet Fehim and Şadi Karagözoğlu is very strong in Ertuğrul's work.
Most of the Turkish films produced before 1950 were projects initiated by import companies owned by local families, most notably İpek Film, a daughter company of the İpek Merchandise, an import company that was advertising in Ottoman literary journals such as Servet-i Fünun as early as the 19th century. Another important company in the early era of Turkish cinema was Kemal Film, a company whose continuous presence as a leading import company has been often overlooked for a few local films it produced during the 1920s. (The founders of Kemal Film bought their first film camera on loan from the Ipek Merchandise). Both companies were the strongest film distributors until the 1950s and the only companies that were financially sound enough to produce films themselves, with low risks for financial failure as they already were in possession of a distribution system and theatre chains that guaranteed a return on investment.
However, the notable developments of these companies must be seen as necessary adaptations to the technological progress of the western film industries whose films they were importing. One example here being the establishment of the Marmara Dubbing Studio in the early 1930s, when the silent era came to an end in the West and sound films became the standard, prompting the import-dependent companies to adjust themselves to the new technological requirements.
The big distributors in Istanbul, led by İpek Film and Kemal Film, gradually expanded their distribution system throughout the rest of the country during the 1930s, leading to the so-called "regional system" (Bölge İşletmeleri), which consisted of seven distribution areas headquartered in the most significant cities in those regions: Istanbul (Marmara Region), İzmir (Aegean Region), Ankara (Middle Anatolian Region), Samsun (Black Sea Region), Adana (Mediterranean Region), Erzurum (East Anatolian Region) and Diyarbakır (South East Anatolian Region).Abisel, Nilgün (1987) "Yerli Yapımcılık Üzerine Notlar", Türk Sineması Üzerine Yazılar, Ankara: İmge Yayınları. The Regional System became much more important after the 1950s, when local film production dramatically increased and local films surpassed imported films in both ticket sales and revenues. This system became the financial foundation of Yeşilçam (often referred to as "Turkish Hollywood"), which was the heart of Turkish film production between the years 1955–1975. After 1965, a so-called "Combined System" (Kombine Sistem) led by a trust of regional leaders is said to have taken control of almost everything regarding production. A leading figure of the trust was producer Türker İnanoğlu, who is still active in the media business today, running Ulusal Film, which was Turkey's largest TV production company.
The first film showing in Ottoman Empire was held in the Yıldız Palace, Istanbul in 1896. Public shows by Sigmund Weinberg in the Beyoğlu and Şehzadebaşı districts followed in 1897. Weinberg was already a prominent figure at that time, especially known as a representative of foreign companies such as Pathé, for whom he sold gramophones before getting into the film business. Some sources suggest he was also a photographer, again as a result of being one of the representatives of foreign companies such as Kodak.
The first movie in Ottoman Empire, Ayastefanos′taki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı, a documentary produced by Fuat Uzkınay in 1914, depicted the destruction of a Russian monument erected at the end of the 1877-1878 Russo-Ottoman War in Yeşilköy (then known as "San Stefano") following Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I. The first thematic films in Ottoman Empire were The Marriage of Himmet Aga (1916–1918), started by Weinberg and completed by Uzkinay, and The Paw (1917) and The Spy (1917), both by Sedat Simavi. The army-affiliated Central Cinema Directorate, a semi-military national defense society, and the Disabled Veterans Society were the producing organizations of that period.
In 1922, a major documentary film, Independence, the İzmir Victory, was made about the Turkish War of Independence. That same year, the first private movie studio, Kemal Film, commenced operations.
The years between 1939 and 1950 were a period of transition for Turkish cinema, during which it was greatly influenced by theater as well as by World War II. While there were only two film companies in 1939, the number increased to four between 1946 and 1950. After 1949, Turkish cinema was able to develop as a separate art form, with a more professional caliber of talents.
The Yeşilçam era
Yeşilçam ("Green Pine") is a metonym for the Turkish film industry, similar to Hollywood in the United States. Yeşilçam is named after Yeşilçam Street in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul where many actors, directors, crew members and studios were based.
Yeşilçam movies are known for iconic unforgotten songs. Soundtrack songs are still widely successful. It being called or .
Some famous partners of Yeşilçam are
Emel Sayın-Tarık Akan Fatma Girik-Cüneyt Arkın Türkan Şoray-Kadir İnanır Gülşen Bubikoğlu-Tarık Akan Kemal Sunal-Şener Şen-Halit Akçatepe Adile Naşit-Münir Özkul Metin Akpınar-Zeki Alasya Filiz Akın-Ediz Hun Ayhan Işık-Belgin Doruk.
Yeşilçam experienced its heyday from the 1950s to the 1970s, when it produced 250 to 350 films annually. Between 1950 and 1966 more than fifty movie directors practiced film arts in Turkey. Ömer Lütfi Akad strongly influenced the period, but Ertem Eğilmez, Osman Fahir Seden, Atıf Yılmaz, and Memduh Ün made the most films.
The film Susuz Yaz, made by Metin Erksan, alongside Hülya Koçyiğit won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1964. This honor was the first of its kind ever bestowed upon a Turkish movie. Cüneyt Gökçer's students Kartal Tibet and Hülya Koçyiğit who started in theatre as child actors are one of first cinema stars who graduated from theatre department of State Conservatory. Also Kartal Tibet was professional basketball player and Hülya Koçyiğit was ballet dancer. After they played together in many films. Kartal Tibet as director, screenwriter and Hülya Koçyiğit as productor worked together in classic films. Also, Kartal Tibet worked as director in TV industry. He helped to launch for acting style in beginning of career of new TV stars who Turkish TV series increased international popularity and won awards like International Emmy Award.