An executive summary is available in English, French and German:
About this report
As Turkish cinema celebrates its 100th anniversary, the Turkish film industry looks back at a dynamic
and eventful history. After creating an almost unique local film market in the 1960s and 1970s it collapsed
into a deep crisis which saw production levels fall dramatically and the number of cinema
screens plummet by almost 80%. Since the turn of the century the Turkish theatrical market,
however, registered an impressive growth trend, firmly establishing Turkey as the second largest
European growth market and the 7th largest European theatrical market, only superseded by the big
five EU markets and the Russian Federation. The Turkish film market also stands out in the panEuropean
landscape as the only market where national films regularly outperform US films.
There is however very little information in English language available about the Turkish film industry.
This report aims to fill that gap by providing a sound overview of the development and current trends
in Turkish film policy, theatrical production, distribution and exhibition, as well as by analysing the
export of Turkish films abroad. Apart from a brief historic overview the report focuses on key
developments between 2004 and 2013 and sets the Turkish film industry into the context of other
European markets, providing comparisons where meaningful and elaborating structural differences,
which are important in gaining a better understanding about how the Turkish film market works. The
Observatory thereby hopes to provide a valuable information tool for international film professionals
interested in learning more about market structures and trends in the Turkish film industry e.g. for the
purposes of co-producing, distributing films in Turkey or selling / distributing Turkish films abroad.
The report focuses exclusively on the economic analysis of the theatrical film industry and does not
approach Turkish films from a critical or socio-cultural angle. Though the report addresses links
between the theatrical film market and Turkish TV industry, which has developed very successfully -
both at home as well as in terms of content export - over the past decade, it is beyond the scope of
this report to analyse the latter in further detail.
The Observatory also makes available free-access databases, including:
LUMIERE: Database on admissions to films released in Europe | http://lumiere.obs.coe.int
MAVISE: Database on TV and on-demand audiovisual services and companies in Europe | http://mavise.obs.coe.int
IRIS Merlin: Database on legal information relevant to the audiovisual sector in Europe | http://merlin.obs.coe.int/
European Audiovisual Observatory
76 Allée de la Robertsau – 67000 Strasbourg – France
Tel: +33 (0) 3 90 21 60 00 – Fax: +33 (0) 3 90 21 60 19
www.obs.coe.int – E-mail: info.obs(atcoe(dot)int
Mavi Boncuk |
Executive Summary | Full Report
The Turkish film industry
Key developments 2004 to 2013
© European Audiovisual Observatory (Council of Europe), Strasbourg, 2014
Director of publication
Susanne Nikoltchev
Executive Director, European Audiovisual Observatory
Author
Martin Kanzler
Film Analyst, Department for Information on Markets and Financing, European Audiovisual Observatory
martin.kanzler@coe.int
Supervising editor
André Lange
Head of the Department for Information on Markets and Financing, European Audiovisual Observatory
Marketing
Markus Booms, European Audiovisual Observatory, markus.booms@coe.int
Press and Public Relations
Alison Hindhaugh, European Audiovisual Observatory, alison.hindhaugh@coe.int
Acknowledgements
For their exceptional level of support the European Audiovisual Observatory would like to thank:
• Antrakt, which provided the majority of data on the Turkish market, in particular Deniz Yavuz.
• SE-YAP, which provided valuable insights and reviewed the report, making sure that the analysis presented actually represented
market realities as perceived by a leading producers‘ association, in particular Serkan Çakarer and Yamaç Okur.
• The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in particular Mesut Cem Erkul, Selçuk Yavuzkanat, Ali Atlıhan and
Muhammet Faruk Bayram.
• Eurimages, which provided data on support granted to Turkish companies, in particular Thierry Hugot, Susan Newman,
Sohie-Marie Peter and Eduard Lladó.
• All market experts who shared their views and insights with the Observatory.
• Dr. Zeynep Usal for her insights into the legal aspects of the report as well as her translation support.
• Finally, the Audiovisual Observatory would like to thank all of our contacts in organisations across Europe, in particular the
European Film Agency Research Network, who regularly provide us with the necessary data to keep our publications and
the LUMIERE database up-to-date.