Turkish cinema, affectionately known as Yeşilçam (Green Pine) during its golden age, traces its origins back to the late Ottoman era, with the earliest surviving footage captured around the time of World War I. The industry truly crystallised following the establishment of the Turkish Republic, initially dominated by Muhsin Ertuğrul’s theatrical adaptations before transitioning into a massive studio system between the 1950s and 1970s. During this peak Yeşilçam era, Istanbul’s equivalent of Hollywood churned out hundreds of films a year, spanning melodramas, slapstick comedies, and historical epics. The most successful of this era’s filmmakers was Metin Erksan, whose film Dry Summer (Susuz Yaz) won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1964.

The political turbulence of the late 1970s and the 1980 military coup drastically disrupted the mainstream studio system, paving the way for a more politically overt, auteur-driven cinema. This transition was cemented by Yılmaz Güney, whose masterpiece Yol (1982), written from a prison cell and directed by Šerif Gören, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

By the 1990s and into the 21st century, Turkish cinema experienced a profound “New Wave” renaissance of more contemplative, minimal and arthouse films led by directors like Nuri Bilge Ceylan (winner of the 2014 Cannes Palme d’Or for Winter Sleep) and Zeki Demirkubuz.