The golden age of Turkish cinema - Yeşilçam

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 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. 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. Yeşilçam suffered due to the spread of television and the widespread political violence at the end of the 1970s. It totally ended after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état.

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