Cinema of Turkey

Cinema of Turkey
Maxim Night Club, previously Cinemajik Movie Theater in Taksim, Istanbul.
No. of screens	2,826 (2019)
• Per capita	3.32 per 100,000 (2019)
Main distributors	CGV Mars Distribution 50.83% UIP 22.52% TME Films 14.43%[1] P-inema 5.37%
Produced feature films (2012)[2]
Total	61
Number of admissions (2012)[2]
Total	43,935,763
• Per capita	0.8 (2016)[3]
National films	20,487,220 (47.0%)
Gross box office (2012)[4]
Total	$234 million
National films	$109 million (46.6%)

Part of a series on the
Culture of Turkey
History Agriculture Anatolian peoples Christianity Genetic history Migration of Turks into Anatolia Constitutional history Diplomatic history Economic history LGBT history Military history Cultural history Jewish history
People Abazins Abkhazians Afghans Africans Albanians Arabs Arab Christians Antiochian Greek Christians Bidri Mhallami Armenians Hemşinli Hidden Armenians Assyrians Australians Bosniaks Brazilians Britons Bulgarians Anatolian Bulgarians Pomaks Thracian Bulgarians Canadians Chechens Chechen Kurds Chinese people Circassians Hatuqway Kabardians Ubykhs Danes Doms Dutch people Filipinos French people Georgians Imerkhevians Germans Greeks Greek Muslims Pontic Greeks Indians Ingush Iraqis Iranians Israelis Japanese people Jews Mizrahi Jews Kurds Central Anatolian Kurds Chechen Kurds Gewirk Herki Hesenan Jalali Koçgiri Milan Miran Modan Motikan Parçikan Reşwan Şêxbizin Laz Levantines Lom Megleno-Romanians Ossetians Poles Roma Gurbeti Muslim Romani Sepečides Roma Turkish Roma Romanians Russians Serbs Syrians Turkic peoples Turks Afro-Turks Bulgarian Turks Meskhetian Turks Turkish Cypriots Yörüks Abdals Afshars Azerbaijanis Baraks Bayandur Chepni Crimean Tatars Karachays Karapapakhs Kazakhs Küresünni Kyrgyz Manavs Nogais Qiziq Tahtacı Turkmens Uyghurs Uzbeks Yazidis Zazas
Languages
Mythology and folklore
Cuisine
Festivals
Religion
Art
Literature
Music and performing arts Theatre
Media Radio Television Cinema
Sport Football Oil wrestling Olympic appearances
Monuments World Heritage Sites
Symbols Flag National anthem Emblems
Turkey portal
v t e

Cinema of Turkey or Turkish cinema (also formerly known as Yeşilçam, which literally means Green Pine in Turkish), (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈjeʃiltʃam]) 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, Balkans & Eastern Europe, also more recently prospering in the Arab world 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 Ottoman Empire. 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 Ottoman Empire isn't known for certain. ^[5]

Turkey's first sound film Bir Millet Uyanıyor was shown in 1931.^[6]Traditional Turkish theater had improvisation storytellers like Meddah, orta oyunu, Karagöz and Hacivat. Western storytelling drama format evolved, After Darülbedayi (1914) in Ottoman Empire and Ankara State Conservatory (1936) in Turkey, .^[7][8][9] Due to their training format, Theater actors moved away from cinema or they only did dubbing in cinema. So, Turkish cinema started to evolve in 1960s. Yeşilçam era was the world's 4th biggest cinema.^[10][11]