Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
HoMER 2023 Annual Conferance, Barcelona, İspanya, 4 - 07 Temmuz 2023, ss.18-19
The post-World War II period marked a significant rise in the national cinema industry, with Turkey
emerging as one of the leading countries in film production, particularly during the 1960-1975 period.
Despite this, the economic dimension of the state’s relationship with cinema remained relatively
underdeveloped until the 1990s. However, the Turkish cinema economy, despite weak regulations, is
not entirely unsystematic. The cinema market, without receiving direct public support, manages to
sustain itself through an audience-centered informal film economy. This economic system is established
and operated within six regions of the country through informal networks comprising producers,
distributors, regional managers, venue owners, and film loan sharks that are organized through agents
such as societies, associations, or unions in each region. These professional and sectoral organizations,
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present in each region, regulate film distribution and screening activities within and between regions.
Organizations such as the Association of Domestic Film Producers, the Turkish Film Producers’
Association, the Istanbul Filmmakers’ Association, and the Adana Filmmakers’ Association, among
others, are involved in protecting the interests of their members against state restrictions and other
regions.
This study aims to analyze the Regional Management Model that existed between 1950-1980, with a
specific focus on the Adana Management Region, also known as ‘the South,’ which covers 20 cities
situated on the Eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey and in Eastern Anatolia. With over 600 cinema
venues and 120 film production and distribution companies, the Adana Management Region serves as
an ideal exemplar of the Regional Management Model. The methodology for this research comprises the
archives of the Adana Filmmakers Association and the Adana Cinema Owners Association, the records
of the Adana Chamber of Commerce, the state archives, archives of local newspapers, and oral history
studies with regional operators. The study also aims to examine the Regional Management Model as a
form of organization that supports national cinema through different prepayment methods, and as a
model that ensures diversity in film production by prioritizing the demands of audiences in different
regions.