Overview , by the Manaki brothers, was the first film made in the Ottoman Empire . 15-second clip showing the 114-year-old Despina Manaki
spinning. 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 1966 to 56 million tickets in 1984 and only 11 million in 1990. Accordingly, the number of film theatres declined from approximately 2,000 in 1966 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 , an actress and the first Miss Turkiye. , actress and the first Turkish female film director. , the first Turkish theater actress. was the first Turkish movie actress. 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). 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. 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 district of
Istanbul where many actors, directors, crew members and studios were based.
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. was child actor. His father is grandson of
Fatma Sultan (daughter of Ahmed III),
Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha and played in
Atıf Kaptan's first Turkish sound film. 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. is actress and official ambassador, due to her husband is Turkey's Ambassador to France The number of cinemagoers and the number of films made constantly increased, especially after 1958. In the 1960s the programs of the theater departments in the Language, History and Geography faculties of
Ankara University and
Istanbul University included cinema courses, as did the Press and Publications High School of Ankara University. A cinema branch was also established in the Art History Department of the
State Fine Arts Academy. The Union of Turkish Film Producers and the State Film Archives both date from the 1960s. The State Film Archives became the Turkish Film Archives in 1969. During the same period, the Cinema-TV Institute was founded and annexed to the
State Academy of Fine Arts. The Turkish State Archives also became part of this organization. In 1962, the Cinema-TV Institute became a department of
Mimar Sinan University. Well-known directors of the 1960–1970 period include Metin Erksan, Atıf Yılmaz, Memduh Ün,
Halit Refiğ,
Duygu Sağıroğlu,
Remzi Aydın Jöntürk and
Nevzat Pesen. In 1970, the numbers of cinemas and cinemagoers rose spectacularly. In the 2,424 cinemas around the country, films were viewed by a record number of 247 million viewers. circa 1970 In 1970, approximately 220 films were made and this figure reached 300 in 1972. Turkish cinema gave birth to its legendary stars during this period, notable examples being
Kemal Sunal,
Kadir İnanır,
Türkan Şoray and
Şener Şen. After this period, however, the cinema began to lose its audiences, due to nationwide TV broadcasts. After 1970, a new and younger generation of directors emerged, but they had to cope with an increased demand for video films after 1980.
Yeşilçam's actresses featured included
Emel Sayın,
Adile Naşit,
Zerrin Egeliler,
Itır Esen,
Filiz Akın,
Fatma Girik,
Hülya Koçyiğit,
Gülşen Bubikoğlu,
Türkan Şoray,
Belgin Doruk,
Hülya Avşar,
Oya Aydoğan,
Perihan Savaş,
Necla Nazır,
Çolpan İlhan,
Ayşen Gruda,
Nevra Serezli,
Müjde Ar,
Perran Kutman and
Yeşilçam actors are
Tarık Akan,
Şener Şen,
Cüneyt Arkın,
Göksel Arsoy,
Kemal Sunal,
Kadir İnanır,
Müşfik Kenter,
Münir Özkul,
Halit Akçatepe,
Hulusi Kentmen,
Zeki Alasya,
Metin Akpınar,
Ediz Hun,
Kartal Tibet,
Ayhan Işık,
Sadri Alışık,
Zeki Müren,
Ekrem Bora,
Metin Serezli,
Hüseyin Peyda,
Ahmet Mekin,
Tamer Yiğit,
Kenan Pars,
Rüştü Asyalı,
Kamran Usluer,
Erol Taş,
Önder Somer,
Müjdat Gezen,
Salih Güney,
Sertan Acar,
Yılmaz Güney,
Orhan Gencebay. 1970s and 1980s also brought the genre of
Turksploitation -
low-budget exploitation films that were either
remakes of, or used unauthorized footage from popular foreign films (particularly
Hollywood movies) and television series. Yeşilçam suffered due to the spread of
television and the
widespread political violence at the end of the 1970s. Yeşilçam totally ended after the
1980 Turkish coup d'état. Increased production costs and difficulties in the import of raw materials brought about a decrease in the number of films made in the 1970s, but the quality of films improved.
Decline of Yeşilçam and the post-Yeşilçam era . With 222 films, She has starred in the most feature films for actress worldwide to her name in the Guinness Book of Records. received the distinction of "Turkish state artist". among the jury of the feature films selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival In the early nineties, there were barely two or three movies released per year. During this period, most of the seventies' stars had either moved to TV, or were trying to rebuild the ''
Yeşilçam's
former glory. Some of the notable examples of this era are Eşkıya (The Bandit
) and Züğürt Ağa
(The Agha''), both starring
Şener Şen. Both movies were critically and commercially acclaimed. However, the resurgence of Yesilçam didn't truly take place until the release of
Vizontele in 2001. The film was directed, written, and starred by
Yılmaz Erdoğan, who was already well known from his long-running sitcom
Bir Demet Tiyatro, and his dedication to theatre. The movie starred the cast of his usual plays, most notably
Demet Akbağ,
Altan Erkekli, and
Cem Yılmaz. This movie's huge commercial success (watched by 2.5 million viewers, which earned the movie the most viewed film for its day) brought attention to the industry. This, and Vizontele's sequel
Vizontele Tuuba, broke
Vizontele's records by achieving 3.5 million and 3 million viewers, respectively. Yeşilçam has seen a revival since 2002, having produced critically acclaimed movies such as
Uzak (
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival), 2003) and
Propaganda. A few years later, Cem Yılmaz released his own film,
G.O.R.A., which he both wrote and starred in. Cem Yılmaz's second movie
Hokkabaz (
The Magician) . Since then, larger-budgeted films have been produced, including notable examples such as
Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak (
Valley of the Wolves: Iraq), which was viewed by a record 4 million people,
Babam ve Oğlum (
My Father and My Son). There has been a rise in experimental films in the 2000s. These include the 2005 feature
Türev, which was filmed without a prewritten script and even featured candid shots of the actors, and
Anlat Istanbul (
Istanbul Tales), an ensemble piece divided into five "mini films" that received a strong reception.
"Körler / Jaluziler İçin" is the first internationally awarded Turkish science fiction feature film which is not a comedy, a cult film, a remake or an animation which marks its unique place as a milestone in the history of Turkish cinema. It was written, directed, produced and edited by Ozan Duru Adam. The film invents an innovative, unconventional visual language. Production numbers also soared in the second half of the 2000s, reaching 40 films in 2007, with the top four box office hits that year claimed by Turkish films, as the film industry became profitable again with improving technical quality corresponding with commercial films' production costs increasing. In 2015, number of admission per capita was 0.8. Also
Sinemia has published a research that Konya has become the city with the most frequent cinema goers. ==Collaborations of Turkish Comedy==